Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Now Covered by Analysts at Barclays

Barclays began coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $173.00 price target on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SFM. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $173.00 target price (up previously from $172.00) on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Roth Capital set a $155.00 target price on Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.20.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $166.21 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $164.35 and a 200 day moving average of $157.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.77. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 52 week low of $81.93 and a 52 week high of $182.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.27. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.53% and a return on equity of 34.20%. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, SVP Kim Coffin sold 3,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.27, for a total transaction of $634,865.61. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,373.22. This represents a 23.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Scott Neal sold 17,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.89, for a total value of $2,851,131.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,178 shares in the company, valued at $2,281,098.42. This trade represents a 55.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 74,035 shares of company stock valued at $12,213,719. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 63.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 2,833 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth approximately $831,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,107,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,760,000 after acquiring an additional 36,255 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 142,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,049,000 after purchasing an additional 6,850 shares during the period.

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.