Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $12.58, but opened at $13.27. Sweetgreen shares last traded at $12.96, with a volume of 750,398 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SG shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Sweetgreen from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Sweetgreen from $23.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Sweetgreen from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Sweetgreen in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.31.

Sweetgreen Trading Down 3.3%

The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.88 and a beta of 2.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $16.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.73.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21). The business had revenue of $166.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.68 million. Sweetgreen had a negative return on equity of 19.72% and a negative net margin of 13.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sweetgreen, Inc. will post -0.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Sweetgreen news, Director Clifford Burrows bought 19,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.11 per share, with a total value of $251,712.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $251,712. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mitch Reback sold 10,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.23, for a total value of $153,640.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 334,421 shares in the company, valued at $5,093,231.83. This trade represents a 2.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 21.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sweetgreen

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,558,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,516,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,601,666 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,762,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330,094 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,558,000. Finally, Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 29.5% in the 1st quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 4,525,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030,176 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.75% of the company’s stock.

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.