Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.14 EPS

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14, Briefing.com reports. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM stock traded up $9.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $128.43. The company had a trading volume of 4,315,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,327,235. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12-month low of $39.76 and a 12-month high of $135.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $108.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.61. The company has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total transaction of $104,625.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,868,513.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.41, for a total transaction of $642,310.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,004 shares in the company, valued at $23,718,959.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total transaction of $104,625.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,868,513.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 65,438 shares of company stock worth $6,528,580. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "hold" rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $111.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.20.

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.