Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $167.00.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SFM shares. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 11,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total value of $1,614,935.79. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 55,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,968,762.75. This trade represents a 16.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.34, for a total value of $302,680.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,007,222.42. This represents a 13.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,784 shares of company stock valued at $13,534,466 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 56.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 259,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,925,000 after buying an additional 93,734 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at $1,006,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $613,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.7 %

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $155.25 on Wednesday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12 month low of $61.61 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $15.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.45.

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