Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.14.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SFM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $29,923.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,597.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $29,923.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,597.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 31,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.03, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 160,852 shares of company stock worth $10,032,745 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,477,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,075,000 after purchasing an additional 17,565 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,337,000. PFG Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 89.6% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 36,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 17,012 shares during the period. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 741,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,660,000 after purchasing an additional 351,446 shares during the period.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM stock opened at $62.29 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.50. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12-month low of $32.12 and a 12-month high of $65.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.84.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.71% and a net margin of 3.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 2.95 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.