Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other research analysts have also commented on SFM. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "hold" rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" 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 issued a "sector perform" rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM traded down $1.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $151.97. 1,676,385 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,340,478. The company has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.54. Sprouts Farmers Market has a one year low of $41.27 and a one year high of $154.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $125.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business's revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.09, for a total transaction of $577,628.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,432 shares in the company, valued at $22,485,650.88. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $1,527,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,459,571.64. This represents a 25.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,516 shares of company stock worth $4,465,466 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 223.5% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter worth about $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,425.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 473 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 442 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.