Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $118.40.

SFM has been the topic of several research reports. Melius Research assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SFM stock opened at $140.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.63. Sprouts Farmers Market has a fifty-two week low of $48.98 and a fifty-two week high of $155.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total transaction of $1,527,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,459,571.64. This trade represents a 25.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.99, for a total transaction of $794,188.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 158,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,980,990.52. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 58,934 shares of company stock valued at $8,370,950. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFM. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,425.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,000.

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.