Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Shares Down 6% After Insider Selling

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) shares dropped 6% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $32.40 and last traded at $32.51. Approximately 1,194,534 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 2,774,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.59.

Specifically, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 169,772 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.77, for a total value of $6,072,744.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,930,228 shares in the company, valued at $69,044,255.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicolas Jammet sold 169,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.77, for a total transaction of $6,072,565.59. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,930,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,044,434.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Sweetgreen from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on Sweetgreen from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Sweetgreen from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sweetgreen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.00.

Sweetgreen Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.73 and a beta of 2.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.60.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $184.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.79 million. Sweetgreen had a negative net margin of 14.33% and a negative return on equity of 19.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Sweetgreen, Inc. will post -0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Sweetgreen during the 2nd quarter valued at $76,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen during the fourth quarter valued at $126,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Sweetgreen during the 4th quarter worth about $137,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in Sweetgreen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $217,000. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Sweetgreen in the 1st quarter valued at about $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.75% of the company’s stock.

Sweetgreen Company Profile

Sweetgreen, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates fast food restaurants serving healthy foods at scale in the United States. The company also accepts orders through its online and mobile ordering platforms, as well as sells gift cards that do not have an expiration date and can be redeemed. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.