Sprouts Farmers Market’s (SFM) “Sector Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $160.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $149.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $151.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.70. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12 month low of $61.61 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The firm has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total transaction of $407,201.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,499 shares in the company, valued at $20,741,491.26. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $31,929.47. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,226 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,811.18. This trade represents a 2.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 94,784 shares of company stock worth $13,231,786. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,554,000 after purchasing an additional 56,652 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,322,000 after purchasing an additional 24,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% in 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 period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,231,000 after buying an additional 168,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,139,000 after buying an additional 294,553 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.