Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $140.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Sprouts Farmers Market traded as high as $158.84 and last traded at $155.60, with a volume of 216252 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.11.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.40.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total transaction of $657,462.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,184 shares in the company, valued at $1,483,669.44. This represents a 30.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph D. O’leary sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total transaction of $52,538.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,869 shares of company stock worth $8,778,152 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,020,000 after acquiring an additional 156,175 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,252,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,561,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,517,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 0.7 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $142.41 and its 200 day moving average is $120.74. The company has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a PE ratio of 45.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13.

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

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.