Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG)

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 107.49% from the stock’s previous close.

SG has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Sweetgreen from $49.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Sweetgreen from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Sweetgreen from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.60.

Sweetgreen Stock Performance

Shares of SG stock traded down $0.92 on Tuesday, hitting $21.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,083,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,031,812. Sweetgreen has a 52-week low of $11.21 and a 52-week high of $45.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.80 and a beta of 2.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.94 and its 200-day moving average is $34.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sweetgreen

In related news, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 41,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.61, for a total value of $1,614,091.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,930,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,526,103.08. This trade represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mitch Reback sold 10,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.43, for a total value of $288,774.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 344,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,093,373.65. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 521,281 shares of company stock worth $19,865,616 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 21.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sweetgreen

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,558,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,516,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,601,666 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Sweetgreen by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,432,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025,341 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 189.9% in the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,134,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,369,000 after buying an additional 743,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 848.5% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 748,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,000,000 after buying an additional 669,657 shares in the last quarter. 95.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Sweetgreen

Sweetgreen, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates fast food restaurants serving healthy foods at scale in the United States. The company also accepts orders through its online and mobile ordering platforms, as well as sells gift cards that do not have an expiration date and can be redeemed. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.