Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) saw a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,250,000 shares, a decline of 26.7% from the October 15th total of 9,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.8 days. Approximately 7.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $142.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,246,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,335,586. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 52 week low of $40.39 and a 52 week high of $148.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $118.29 and its 200 day moving average is $96.88. The stock has a market cap of $14.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Insider Activity

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total value of $48,760.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,651,373.76. The trade was a 1.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kristen E. Blum sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,162,700. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,648 shares of company stock worth $5,902,586. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 80,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,181,000 after buying an additional 14,488 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 2,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 23,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares in the last quarter.

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.