Brokerages Set Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Price Target at $115.40

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $115.40.

Several brokerages have issued reports on SFM. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM opened at $150.92 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12-month low of $44.02 and a 12-month high of $155.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $128.03 and a 200-day moving average of $102.77. The stock has a market cap of $15.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.62, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.54.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 1,997 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total value of $198,102.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,596,262.40. The trade was a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total transaction of $757,676.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,463,777.60. This represents a 2.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,802 shares of company stock worth $3,887,838 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFM. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 593,600 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,634,000 after purchasing an additional 56,161 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,107,000 after purchasing an additional 973,666 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,148,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 6,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,053,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,138,000 after buying an additional 28,636 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.