Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Upgraded at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $120.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $96.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and increased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a sector perform rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $89.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $99.22.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $104.86 on Monday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12 month low of $39.50 and a 12 month high of $107.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total transaction of $48,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,651,373.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 56,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $5,680,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,089,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total transaction of $48,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,651,373.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 123,221 shares of company stock valued at $12,130,609. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,966,000 after acquiring an additional 29,362 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,295,000 after purchasing an additional 593,600 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,419,000 after purchasing an additional 297,067 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,107,000 after buying an additional 973,666 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,013,000 after buying an additional 1,237,610 shares during the period.

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.