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

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $118.40.

SFM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Melius Research started coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on 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.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $131.43 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $138.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.10. Sprouts Farmers Market has a fifty-two week low of $47.63 and a fifty-two week high of $155.64. 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 (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.41, for a total transaction of $642,310.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,004 shares in the company, valued at $23,718,959.64. This trade represents a 2.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,569 shares of company stock worth $9,117,886. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,295,000 after purchasing an additional 593,600 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,634,000 after buying an additional 56,161 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,107,000 after buying an additional 973,666 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,148,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after acquiring an additional 6,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,053,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,138,000 after acquiring an additional 28,636 shares in the last quarter.

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.