Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on SFM. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 1.0 %

SFM opened at $148.31 on Wednesday. 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’s fifty day moving average is $151.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.87. The company has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.44, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 52 week low of $61.61 and a 52 week high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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. Analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $122,303.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,347 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,464.74. This trade represents a 8.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,784 shares of company stock valued at $13,231,786 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,171 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at about $149,000. Independent Advisor Alliance acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth about $225,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at about $233,000.

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.