StockNews.com Downgrades Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) to Hold

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

SFM has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI lifted 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 0.9 %

SFM stock opened at $146.51 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $114.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.92. The company has a market cap of $14.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.54. Sprouts Farmers Market has a twelve month low of $40.39 and a twelve month high of $147.21.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted 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 firm 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%. The business’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Kristen E. Blum sold 2,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,162,700. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Kristen E. Blum sold 2,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,162,700. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.09, for a total value of $577,628.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,485,650.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,648 shares of company stock valued at $5,902,586. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFM. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter worth $219,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 80,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,181,000 after buying an additional 14,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter worth $167,000.

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.