Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Trading Up 6.3% – Time to Buy?

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) shares shot up 6.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $33.52 and last traded at $33.78. 980,985 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 2,584,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Sweetgreen from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Sweetgreen from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.20.

Sweetgreen Trading Down 2.3 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.14 and a beta of 2.38.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $173.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.67 million. Sweetgreen had a negative net margin of 13.27% and a negative return on equity of 18.82%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.22) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Sweetgreen, Inc. will post -0.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Sweetgreen

In other news, CFO Mitch Reback sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.13, for a total value of $265,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 350,981 shares in the company, valued at $11,628,000.53. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Adrienne Gemperle sold 5,372 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.05, for a total value of $182,916.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 107,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,654,007.65. This represents a 4.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 646,565 shares of company stock valued at $24,974,830. 21.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sweetgreen

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SG. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen during the second quarter worth $346,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Sweetgreen by 14.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 52,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 6,478 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Sweetgreen by 62.1% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 55,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,668,000 after acquiring an additional 21,203 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Sweetgreen during the second quarter worth about $4,969,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in Sweetgreen during the third quarter worth approximately $298,000. Institutional investors own 95.75% of the company’s stock.

Sweetgreen Company Profile

Sweetgreen, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates fast food restaurants serving healthy foods at scale in the United States. The company also accepts orders through its online and mobile ordering platforms, as well as sells gift cards that do not have an expiration date and can be redeemed. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.