Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on 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 lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $139.25 on Wednesday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a twelve month low of $48.98 and a twelve month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $13.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.25, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $141.53 and its 200 day moving average is $116.57.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 33,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,459,571.64. This represents a 25.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owns 149,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,741,491.26. This represents a 1.93 % 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 quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,634,000 after acquiring an additional 56,161 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,107,000 after purchasing an additional 973,666 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $108,561,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 734,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,489,000 after purchasing an additional 53,165 shares in the last quarter.

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.