Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

SFM has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $140.00 on Wednesday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1 year low of $48.98 and a 1 year high of $155.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.00 billion, a PE ratio of 40.46, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.63. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total transaction of $657,462.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,184 shares in the company, valued at $1,483,669.44. This represents a 30.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $1,527,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,459,571.64. This trade represents a 25.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,934 shares of company stock worth $8,370,950 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,107,000 after acquiring an additional 973,666 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,980,000 after acquiring an additional 435,767 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth $31,712,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 314.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,727,000 after acquiring an additional 169,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth $18,259,000.

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.