Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on SFM. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ SFM opened at $134.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $139.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.97. Sprouts Farmers Market has a one year low of $48.49 and a one year high of $155.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The business’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.99, for a total transaction of $794,188.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 158,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,980,990.52. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total value of $104,625.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,251 shares in the company, valued at $2,868,513.60. The trade was a 3.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock worth $8,475,575 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,425.8% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at about $60,000.

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.