Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Shares Up 6.3% – Should You Buy?

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG)’s stock price was up 6.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $33.52 and last traded at $33.78. Approximately 980,985 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 2,584,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SG. Citigroup upgraded Sweetgreen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $44.00 to $49.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Sweetgreen from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on Sweetgreen in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.20.

Sweetgreen Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.19 and a beta of 2.38.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $173.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.67 million. Sweetgreen had a negative return on equity of 18.82% and a negative net margin of 13.27%. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.22) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sweetgreen, Inc. will post -0.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Wouleta Ayele sold 4,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.05, for a total value of $148,015.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 140,302 shares in the company, valued at $4,777,283.10. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 14,745 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $663,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,930,228 shares in the company, valued at $86,860,260. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 646,565 shares of company stock worth $24,974,830. Insiders own 21.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sweetgreen

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SG. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI boosted its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 12,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Sweetgreen in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Calamos Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sweetgreen by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 79,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 11,275 shares in the last quarter. Deepwater Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen during the fourth quarter worth about $13,695,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Sweetgreen by 65.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,034 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.75% of the company’s stock.

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.