Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG)

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $45.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target indicates a potential upside of 107.49% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on SG. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Sweetgreen from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Sweetgreen from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Sweetgreen from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.60.

Sweetgreen Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE SG traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.69. 1,083,065 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,031,812. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.80 and a beta of 2.37. Sweetgreen has a 1-year low of $11.21 and a 1-year high of $45.12. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sweetgreen

In related news, Director Julie Bornstein sold 4,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.11, for a total value of $187,979.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 32,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,374,344.07. This trade represents a 12.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 41,805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.61, for a total transaction of $1,614,091.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,930,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,526,103.08. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 521,281 shares of company stock worth $19,865,616. Insiders own 21.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Sweetgreen in the 4th quarter worth about $52,558,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Sweetgreen by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,516,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,850,000 after buying an additional 1,601,666 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Sweetgreen by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,432,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,106,000 after buying an additional 1,025,341 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Sweetgreen by 189.9% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,134,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,369,000 after buying an additional 743,157 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 848.5% in the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 748,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,000,000 after acquiring an additional 669,657 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.