Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Stock Price

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $32.00 to $28.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

SG has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Sweetgreen from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup upgraded Sweetgreen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $49.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.20.

Sweetgreen Stock Performance

Shares of SG opened at $29.96 on Tuesday. Sweetgreen has a one year low of $10.17 and a one year high of $45.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.57 and its 200-day moving average is $33.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.41 and a beta of 2.38.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $173.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.67 million. Sweetgreen had a negative net margin of 13.27% and a negative return on equity of 18.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.22) EPS. Analysts forecast that Sweetgreen will post -0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sweetgreen

In other news, insider Nathaniel Ru sold 1,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total value of $50,532.63. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,952,129 shares in the company, valued at $78,104,681.29. This represents a 0.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 14,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $663,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,930,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,860,260. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 648,838 shares of company stock valued at $25,065,773 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 21.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sweetgreen

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new position in shares of Sweetgreen during the 3rd quarter valued at $591,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new position in Sweetgreen during the third quarter worth $1,973,000. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Sweetgreen by 189.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 173,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,151,000 after buying an additional 113,586 shares in the last quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen in the third quarter worth about $3,329,000. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 139.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 939,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,299,000 after acquiring an additional 547,816 shares in the last quarter. 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.