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

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $118.40.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $131.43 on Monday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $138.21 and a 200-day moving average of $110.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.14 billion, a PE ratio of 37.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.58. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 52 week low of $47.63 and a 52 week high of $155.64.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total transaction of $104,625.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,868,513.60. The trade was a 3.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 dated 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 directly owns 211,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,718,959.64. This represents a 2.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,569 shares of company stock valued at $9,117,886 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,295,000 after acquiring an additional 593,600 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,634,000 after buying an additional 56,161 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,053,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,138,000 after acquiring an additional 28,636 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.