Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $115.33 and last traded at $114.88, with a volume of 54429 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $113.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SFM shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $102.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.80.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $102.10 and its 200 day moving average is $84.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.53%. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, insider John Scott Neal sold 6,535 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.29, for a total transaction of $668,465.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,293 shares in the company, valued at $1,462,030.97. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider John Scott Neal sold 6,535 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.29, for a total transaction of $668,465.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,293 shares in the company, valued at $1,462,030.97. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 1,997 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total transaction of $198,102.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,596,262.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 117,507 shares of company stock valued at $11,654,176 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,966,000 after purchasing an additional 29,362 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,295,000 after purchasing an additional 593,600 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,419,000 after purchasing an additional 297,067 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,107,000 after purchasing an additional 973,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,610 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.