Baird Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. $SFM

Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the first quarter valued at $270,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 12,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 2,261 shares during the period. Anderson Hoagland & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the first quarter valued at $2,866,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 997,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,205,000 after acquiring an additional 10,059 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the first quarter valued at $106,852,000.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, Director Joseph D. O’leary sold 2,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.07, for a total transaction of $440,755.59. Following the sale, the director owned 14,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,250,149.58. This trade represents a 16.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.57, for a total value of $1,475,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,680,461.48. This represents a 35.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,168 shares of company stock valued at $5,544,685 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $173.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $180.00 target price on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.73.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

NASDAQ SFM opened at $137.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $151.57 and its 200-day moving average is $155.50. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $100.59 and a one year high of $182.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.77%.Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Sprouts Farmers Market has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.200-5.320 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.120-1.160 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Sprouts Farmers Market announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 19th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.