Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) had its target price raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $140.00 to $180.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 29.53% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on SFM. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFM traded down $30.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $138.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,390,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,396,565. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.27. Sprouts Farmers Market has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.63.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph D. O’leary sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total value of $52,538.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,700,629.01. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,614 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,731 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,034,000 after buying an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at $64,117,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,980,000 after buying an additional 435,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at $53,946,000.

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.