Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. $SFM Shares Acquired by Driehaus Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, making it the firm's 5th largest position, valued at approximately $148.3 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Whipplewood Advisors LLC and Brooklyn Investment Group, significantly raised their stakes in Sprouts Farmers Market, indicating increasing institutional confidence in the company.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market's rating to "overweight" with a target price increase to $180.00, while the average price target from analysts is $173.73.

Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 971,380 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 28,595 shares during the quarter. Sprouts Farmers Market comprises approximately 1.4% of Driehaus Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.99% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $148,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,226 shares of the company's stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 36,675 shares of the company's stock worth $4,660,000 after purchasing an additional 4,029 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $369,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,355,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,199,000 after acquiring an additional 160,882 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 253,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,265,000 after acquiring an additional 150,594 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $159.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $173.73.

Insider Activity

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 4,054 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.45, for a total transaction of $650,464.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 174,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,037,033. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph D. O'leary sold 2,937 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.07, for a total transaction of $440,755.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,250,149.58. The trade was a 16.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,393,386 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFM traded down $1.90 on Tuesday, hitting $138.64. The stock had a trading volume of 2,083,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,729,186. The stock has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.87. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.05 and a 1 year high of $182.00. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $155.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.83.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 36.53%. Sprouts Farmers Market's revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.200-5.320 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.120-1.160 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Sprouts Farmers Market declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.