Sprouts Farmers Market’s (SFM) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at UBS Group

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reiterated by research analysts at UBS Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, July 29th, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $182.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $196.00. UBS Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 20.73% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Roth Capital set a $155.00 target price on Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays began coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $173.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.87.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.0%

SFM stock traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $150.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,591,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,747,647. The company has a market cap of $14.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.78. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12 month low of $93.42 and a 12 month high of $182.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $163.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.60.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The business’s revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Terri F. Graham sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $230,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,800. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 4,045 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.94, for a total transaction of $659,092.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 174,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,472,135.60. This represents a 2.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 63,743 shares of company stock worth $10,436,153. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 385.5% during the second quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 11,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 8,754 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 50.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 3,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter valued at about $569,000. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.6% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the second quarter worth about $81,000.

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.