Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

SFM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 15.6 %

NASDAQ SFM opened at $143.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. Sprouts Farmers Market has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $178.99. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $148.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.12, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,614 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,731 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SFM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the third 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 last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth about $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,252,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,561,000 after acquiring an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth about $1,517,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company Profile

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.