Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $115.40.

Several equities analysts have commented on SFM shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 1,997 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total transaction of $198,102.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,596,262.40. The trade was a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 11,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,483,669.44. The trade was a 30.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,516 shares of company stock valued at $4,465,466 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter valued at $349,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 59.8% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 16,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,405,000 after buying an additional 6,286 shares in the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,252,000. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 2nd quarter valued at about $623,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter valued at about $450,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 0.9 %

SFM stock opened at $151.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a PE ratio of 43.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market has a twelve month low of $41.27 and a twelve month high of $154.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $124.34 and its 200-day moving average is $100.64.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 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 company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.