Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Rating Increased to Buy at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $190.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $163.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on SFM. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 3.1 %

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $140.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1-year low of $60.46 and a 1-year high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $13.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.93.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total value of $407,201.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,741,491.26. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,137,080.80. This trade represents a 14.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,850 shares of company stock worth $1,619,581. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter worth $1,942,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 90.3% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,000 after acquiring an additional 6,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter.

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.