Analysts Set Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Price Target at $51.14

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.14.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $29,923.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 2,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,597.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 22,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $1,367,484.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,513.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $29,923.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,597.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 160,852 shares of company stock valued at $10,032,745. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 614.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,039,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,359,000 after acquiring an additional 2,614,241 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the first quarter worth about $54,912,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 111.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,093,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,146,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,709 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,013,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 77.9% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,726,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,416,000 after purchasing an additional 756,017 shares in the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $65.15 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.50. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12-month low of $32.12 and a 12-month high of $65.53.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.71% and a net margin of 3.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the retailing of fresh, natural, and organic food products under the Sprouts brand in the United States. It offers perishable product categories, including fresh produce, meat and meat alternatives, seafood, deli, bakery, floral, and dairy and dairy alternatives; and non-perishable product categories, such as grocery, vitamins and supplements, bulk items, frozen foods, beer and wine, and natural health and body care.