Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFM opened at $143.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.61. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $178.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. Research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total value of $4,477,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,454,764.88. This represents a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,614 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,731. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at about $3,252,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,561,000 after acquiring an additional 48,103 shares during the period. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth about $1,517,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company Profile

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.