Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 104,331 Shares of Sweetgreen, Inc. $SG

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. significantly reduced its investment in Sweetgreen, selling 104,331 shares and decreasing its holdings by 97.7% during the first quarter, now owning only 2,457 shares valued at $61,000.
• Sweetgreen reported a quarterly loss of ($0.20) EPS, missing analysts' expectations, and had a revenue of $185.58 million, which was below the expected $193.47 million.
• The stock has seen target price adjustments from multiple analysts, with Wells Fargo maintaining an "overweight" rating and a target price of $19.00, while others have reduced their price targets significantly.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG - Free Report) by 97.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,457 shares of the company's stock after selling 104,331 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Sweetgreen were worth $61,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SG. AIA Group Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Sweetgreen during the 1st quarter worth $1,753,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen in the 1st quarter valued at about $9,050,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 118,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,964,000 after buying an additional 2,722 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 58.3% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 116,776 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 42,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych raised its stake in Sweetgreen by 70.8% during the 1st quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 4,100 shares of the company's stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. 95.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sweetgreen Trading Up 1.0%

Sweetgreen stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $8.77. 1,311,686 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,915,954. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $11.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.16. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of -10.45 and a beta of 2.01. Sweetgreen, Inc. has a one year low of $8.11 and a one year high of $45.12.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.08). Sweetgreen had a negative net margin of 14.29% and a negative return on equity of 22.21%. The business had revenue of $185.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $193.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.13) earnings per share. Sweetgreen's revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Sweetgreen has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sweetgreen, Inc. will post -0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mitch Reback sold 11,530 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.19, for a total transaction of $105,960.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 322,891 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,967,368.29. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 19.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SG. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Sweetgreen from $25.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on Sweetgreen from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Sweetgreen from $19.00 to $13.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Sweetgreen from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Sweetgreen from $27.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sweetgreen presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.69.

Sweetgreen 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.