Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Receives $118.40 Average PT from Analysts

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $118.40.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SFM shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $147.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.70 billion, a PE ratio of 42.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Sprouts Farmers Market has a one year low of $48.98 and a one year high of $155.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $141.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.90.

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

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total value of $757,676.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,463,777.60. This trade represents a 2.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total transaction of $1,527,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 61,869 shares of company stock valued at $8,778,152 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake 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 valued at $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,252,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth $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.