Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $115.40.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 222,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,485,650.88. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,868,513.60. The trade was a 3.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,516 shares of company stock worth $4,465,466 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 593,600 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,634,000 after buying an additional 56,161 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,107,000 after buying an additional 973,666 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,148,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after buying an additional 6,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,053,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,138,000 after acquiring an additional 28,636 shares during the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $151.97 on Thursday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12-month low of $41.27 and a 12-month high of $154.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.64. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.92, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.54.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

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.