LSV Asset Management Sells 364,479 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

LSV Asset Management reduced its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,267,410 shares of the company’s stock after selling 364,479 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned about 4.20% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $205,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 66.6% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 19,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 7,901 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 267.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 35,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after purchasing an additional 25,879 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 77,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after buying an additional 7,252 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $48.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.50.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of SFM traded up $1.68 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $73.68. 2,076,372 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,492,326. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.12 and a 12 month high of $74.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.94.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.77% and a net margin of 4.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total value of $1,978,591.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 82,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,125,414.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 31,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.03, for a total transaction of $1,998,681.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,332,052.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total value of $1,978,591.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 82,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,125,414.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 160,852 shares of company stock valued at $10,032,745. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.