Citigroup Upgrades Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) to Buy

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $49.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $44.00. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 47.99% from the stock’s previous close.

SG has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Sweetgreen from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Sweetgreen from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on Sweetgreen in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sweetgreen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.10.

Sweetgreen Trading Up 2.7 %

Sweetgreen stock opened at $33.11 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.65. Sweetgreen has a twelve month low of $9.66 and a twelve month high of $45.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.45 and a beta of 2.38.

Insider Activity at Sweetgreen

In other news, CTO Wouleta Ayele sold 4,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.05, for a total transaction of $148,015.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 140,302 shares in the company, valued at $4,777,283.10. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Adrienne Gemperle sold 5,372 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.05, for a total transaction of $182,916.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 107,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,654,007.65. This trade represents a 4.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 640,838 shares of company stock worth $24,800,733 in the last 90 days. 21.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SG. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Sweetgreen by 0.3% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 112,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 0.7% in the second quarter. Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC now owns 65,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 2.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Sweetgreen by 29.1% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pier Capital LLC grew its position in Sweetgreen by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 293,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,399,000 after buying an additional 761 shares during the period. 95.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sweetgreen Company Profile

Sweetgreen, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates fast food restaurants serving healthy foods at scale in the United States. The company also accepts orders through its online and mobile ordering platforms, as well as sells gift cards that do not have an expiration date and can be redeemed. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.