Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SFM. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM opened at $142.00 on Tuesday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1 year low of $40.39 and a 1 year high of $148.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $118.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a PE ratio of 41.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total value of $657,462.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,184 shares in the company, valued at $1,483,669.44. The trade was a 30.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total value of $48,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,651,373.76. This represents a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,648 shares of company stock valued at $5,902,586 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 223.5% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during 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.