Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Price Target Increased to $27.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Sweetgreen from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a buy rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Sweetgreen from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. They issued a buy rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $33.60.

Sweetgreen Trading Up 33.4 %

Shares of NYSE SG traded up $8.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $35.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,864,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,687,511. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.43. Sweetgreen has a one year low of $8.64 and a one year high of $36.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.65 and a beta of 2.30.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by ($0.02). Sweetgreen had a negative net margin of 17.15% and a negative return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $184.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sweetgreen will post -0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Sweetgreen news, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.30, for a total transaction of $6,260,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,730,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Sweetgreen news, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.30, for a total value of $6,260,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,730,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Wouleta Ayele sold 2,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.35, for a total transaction of $86,149.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 147,480 shares in the company, valued at $4,623,498. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 440,692 shares of company stock worth $13,738,038 in the last 90 days. 21.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sweetgreen

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sweetgreen by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 41,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 11.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Sweetgreen by 0.9% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 176,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,461,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sweetgreen by 9.9% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sweetgreen by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 182,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733 shares during the last quarter. 95.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sweetgreen Company Profile

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.