Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.29.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SFM. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total value of $1,978,591.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 82,495 shares in the company, valued at $5,125,414.35. 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, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total transaction of $1,978,591.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 82,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,125,414.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 13,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total transaction of $828,230.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,395 shares in the company, valued at $2,509,855.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 160,852 shares of company stock worth $10,032,745. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,337,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13,150.0% during the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 89.6% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 36,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 17,012 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,321,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,573,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 90.2% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 741,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,660,000 after acquiring an additional 351,446 shares in the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $64.04 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $56.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12 month low of $32.12 and a 12 month high of $65.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.49.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.71% and a net margin of 3.79%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company Profile

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.