Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $167.00.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.7 %

SFM stock opened at $155.25 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $152.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Sprouts Farmers Market has a fifty-two week low of $61.61 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.34, for a total transaction of $302,680.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,222.42. The trade was a 13.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $61,151.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,595.12. This represents a 9.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,784 shares of company stock valued at $13,534,466 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth about $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,117,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,946,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after purchasing an additional 294,553 shares during the last quarter.

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.