Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Raised to “Buy” at Northcoast Research

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) was upgraded by investment analysts at Northcoast Research from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $185.00 target price on the stock. Northcoast Research’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 24.66% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on SFM. Bank of America raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 3.9 %

NASDAQ SFM opened at $148.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.47, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. 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 has a 12 month low of $60.46 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $149.06 and a 200-day moving average of $131.62.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at about $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,034,000 after purchasing an additional 632,523 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at about $64,117,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,946,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after purchasing an additional 294,553 shares in the last quarter.

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.