Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $8.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Sprout Social from $10.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.17.

Sprout Social Stock Performance

Shares of SPT stock opened at $11.41 on Tuesday. Sprout Social has a 12 month low of $4.92 and a 12 month high of $13.35. The stock has a market cap of $691.35 million, a PE ratio of -25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $11.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.32.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $125.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $123.83 million. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 5.42% and a positive return on equity of 1.11%. On average, equities analysts expect that Sprout Social will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprout Social

In other news, insider Justyn Howard sold 40,000 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.02, for a total value of $440,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,735.34. The trade was a 84.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 51,612 shares of company stock worth $573,757 in the last ninety days. 9.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprout Social

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SPT. Haveli Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sprout Social during the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,405,033. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 79.4% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 727,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,148,000 after buying an additional 322,200 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Sprout Social by 46.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 442,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,522,000 after buying an additional 141,258 shares during the last quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE purchased a new position in Sprout Social in the first quarter worth about $1,960,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the second quarter worth approximately $1,658,000.

About Sprout Social

Sprout Social, Inc. provides cloud-based software that helps organizations manage their social media presence. Its platform supports activities such as publishing and scheduling content, engaging with audiences, monitoring social conversations, and analyzing social media performance. The company’s tools also include social listening, customer care, and employee advocacy capabilities. Sprout Social serves businesses and agencies across a range of industries, helping teams coordinate social media work and gather insights from interactions across social networks.