Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Grows Stock Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 84.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 75,300 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.16% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $13,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 223.5% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 56,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $5,680,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,089,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total value of $48,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,651,373.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 56,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $5,680,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,895 shares in the company, valued at $1,089,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 123,221 shares of company stock valued at $12,130,609 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SFM shares. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.80.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of SFM opened at $108.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $96.76 and its 200 day moving average is $81.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 1.03. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.76 and a fifty-two week high of $109.01.

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

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.