Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT) shares reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $15.00 to $12.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Sprout Social traded as low as $7.79 and last traded at $8.01, with a volume of 3351600 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.68.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Sprout Social from $25.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Sprout Social from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Sprout Social from $26.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto bought 93,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.67 per share, with a total value of $1,002,809.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 875,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,338,981.52. This represents a 12.03% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin purchased 90,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,009,963.54. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 114,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,280,754.66. The trade was a 372.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sprout Social

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Topline Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Sprout Social in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,555,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 739.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 714,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,932,000 after acquiring an additional 629,033 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sprout Social during the second quarter worth $10,694,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Sprout Social by 20,382.0% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 471,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,850,000 after acquiring an additional 468,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 182.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 687,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,370,000 after acquiring an additional 443,774 shares during the period.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $474.11 million, a PE ratio of -9.89 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.32.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.07. Sprout Social had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a negative net margin of 10.59%.The business had revenue of $115.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $114.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sprout Social Company Profile

Sprout Social (NASDAQ: SPT) is a Chicago-based software company specializing in social media management solutions for businesses of all sizes. The company provides a cloud-based platform designed to help organizations improve their social media presence through a suite of tools for content scheduling, community engagement, social listening and analytics. Sprout Social’s platform is built to streamline the workflows of marketing, customer care and public relations teams by providing a centralized hub for managing multiple social channels.

The company’s product offerings include publishing and scheduling capabilities that allow users to plan and automate social content across networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.