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 report sent to investors on Thursday.

SFM has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. Melius Research began coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $151.97 on Thursday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12-month low of $41.27 and a 12-month high of $154.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $125.28 and its 200 day moving average is $101.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.54.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.41, for a total transaction of $642,310.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,718,959.64. The trade was a 2.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total value of $104,625.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,868,513.60. The trade was a 3.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,516 shares of company stock valued at $4,465,466. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,107,000 after acquiring an additional 973,666 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,295,000 after acquiring an additional 593,600 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,980,000 after acquiring an additional 435,767 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,712,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 804,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,271,000 after acquiring an additional 235,100 shares during 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.