Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has $190.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $163.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on SFM. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $140.82 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $150.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market has a twelve month low of $60.46 and a twelve month high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $61,151.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,595.12. The trade was a 9.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 49,898 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $6,856,983.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 189,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,034,081.58. This trade represents a 20.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 79,653 shares of company stock worth $11,080,042 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 30,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,896,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during 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.