Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SFM. Melius Research initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM stock opened at $151.97 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $124.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.64. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1-year low of $41.27 and a 1-year high of $154.55. 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 cap of $15.20 billion, a PE ratio of 43.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.54.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total transaction of $1,527,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,459,571.64. The trade was a 25.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total transaction of $657,462.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,184 shares in the company, valued at $1,483,669.44. The trade was a 30.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,516 shares of company stock worth $4,465,466. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter valued at $349,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 59.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 16,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 6,286 shares in the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,252,000. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter valued at $623,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter valued at $450,000.

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.