Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $115.00 to $135.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Sprouts Farmers Market traded as high as $120.69 and last traded at $120.45, with a volume of 85509 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $119.32.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Melius Research began coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. 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 research report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.40.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total value of $104,625.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,868,513.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.41, for a total value of $642,310.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,718,959.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total transaction of $104,625.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,868,513.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 124,142 shares of company stock worth $12,401,112. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,966,000 after acquiring an additional 29,362 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,295,000 after buying an additional 593,600 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,419,000 after buying an additional 297,067 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,107,000 after purchasing an additional 973,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,148,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after acquiring an additional 6,085 shares during the period.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 0.7 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $108.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.67, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.53%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

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.