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

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $160.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.36% from the company’s previous close.

SFM has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, 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 note on Friday, February 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM traded up $3.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $149.03. 374,576 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,317,164. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.60, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market has a twelve month low of $61.61 and a twelve month high of $178.99. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $151.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13.

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

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total value of $31,929.47. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,226 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,811.18. This represents a 2.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.25, for a total transaction of $140,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,486,369.50. This trade represents a 8.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 83,501 shares of company stock worth $11,616,851. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 7,355 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth approximately $13,348,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $1,517,000.

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.