Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on SFM. Melius Research assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $131.79 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. The firm has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a PE ratio of 38.09, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.54. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1 year low of $39.98 and a 1 year high of $135.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $110.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.23.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total transaction of $48,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,651,373.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Joel D. Anderson sold 20,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.16, for a total transaction of $2,005,032.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,809 shares in the company, valued at $1,808,673.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total transaction of $48,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,651,373.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,829 shares of company stock worth $5,206,068 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 28.3% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,095 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter worth $802,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the first quarter worth about $223,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 70,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,556,000 after buying an additional 9,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 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.