36,315 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. $SFM Bought by Ballast Asset Management LP

Key Points

• Ballast Asset Management opened a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market, buying 36,315 shares worth about $2.41 million in the third quarter. Other institutional investors also reported buying or increasing SFM holdings.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the consensus rating is Hold, with a $64.77 average price target; six analysts rate it Buy, seven Hold and three Sell.
• Sprouts narrowly missed quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $1.21 versus $1.22 expected and revenue of $2.30 billion versus $2.33 billion expected. Revenue rose 4.7% year over year.

Ballast Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 36,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,410,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter valued at about $768,171,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $131,310,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,464,015 shares of the company's stock worth $123,826,000 after purchasing an additional 111,574 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $93,790,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.7% during the first quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 855,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,995,000 after purchasing an additional 22,863 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SFM shares. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, October 26th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Bank of America cut Sprouts Farmers Market from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $94.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered Sprouts Farmers Market from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.77.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of SFM opened at $49.58 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $65.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.76. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.35 and a 1-year high of $94.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.01). Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 33.83% and a net margin of 5.45%. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, Director Joseph O'Leary sold 2,597 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total transaction of $214,434.29. Following the sale, the director owned 14,710 shares in the company, valued at $1,214,604.70. The trade was a 15.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 10,788 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.14, for a total transaction of $584,062.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 269,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,616,717.20. This trade represents a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 46,041 shares of company stock worth $3,108,047. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company Profile

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