Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock Rating Upgraded by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $190.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s target price suggests a potential upside of 38.94% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $136.75 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.66. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12 month low of $60.46 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.99, for a total value of $794,188.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 158,148 shares in the company, valued at $21,980,990.52. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 28,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,137,080.80. This represents a 14.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,564 shares of company stock worth $2,413,770 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,554,000 after acquiring an additional 56,652 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,322,000 after purchasing an additional 24,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $275,634,000 after purchasing an additional 56,161 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,231,000 after buying an additional 168,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after buying an additional 294,553 shares during the last quarter.

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.