Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,620,000 shares, a decline of 15.5% from the February 13th total of 6,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 5.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on SFM shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.92.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total transaction of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,137,080.80. This trade represents a 14.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,850 shares of company stock worth $1,619,581 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,642,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 30,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,896,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 3.1 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $140.99 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $60.46 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $150.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.93. The stock 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.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 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.