Sweetgreen Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SG)

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 11,745 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 85% compared to the average volume of 6,336 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Sweetgreen from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Sweetgreen from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Sweetgreen from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sweetgreen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.20.

Sweetgreen Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SG opened at $38.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.38 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.67. Sweetgreen has a 1 year low of $8.64 and a 1 year high of $40.20.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $184.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.79 million. Sweetgreen had a negative net margin of 14.33% and a negative return on equity of 19.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Sweetgreen will post -0.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Sweetgreen

In other news, CTO Wouleta Ayele sold 2,831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.31, for a total transaction of $102,793.61. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 144,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,252,205.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Sweetgreen news, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 1,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total transaction of $40,410.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,930,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,228,422.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Wouleta Ayele sold 2,831 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.31, for a total value of $102,793.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 144,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,252,205.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 428,334 shares of company stock worth $15,162,663 over the last quarter. 21.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sweetgreen

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in Sweetgreen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sweetgreen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sweetgreen during the third quarter worth about $216,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen during the second quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Precision Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Sweetgreen in the third quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.75% of the company’s stock.

About Sweetgreen

Sweetgreen, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates fast food restaurants serving healthy foods at scale in the United States. The company also accepts orders through its online and mobile ordering platforms, as well as sells gift cards that do not have an expiration date and can be redeemed. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.