Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on SFM. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM stock opened at $134.65 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $139.87 and its 200 day moving average is $112.72. The company has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.63. Sprouts Farmers Market has a one year low of $48.49 and a one year high of $155.64. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. The company 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%. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph D. O’leary sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total transaction of $52,538.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,700,629.01. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.41, for a total value of $642,310.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,718,959.64. The trade was a 2.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,569 shares of company stock valued at $9,117,886 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.9% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.8% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.5% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 158 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.