Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Sweetgreen, Inc. $SG

Key Points

• Stephens Investment Management Group LLC has increased its stake in Sweetgreen, Inc. by 89.5%, now owning 2,567,526 shares worth approximately $38.2 million.
• Recent analyst reports have seen several price target reductions for Sweetgreen, with Royal Bank of Canada and Wells Fargo both lowering their targets to $13.00.
• Sweetgreen's latest earnings report showed a loss of ($0.20) EPS, missing analyst estimates and reflecting a negative return on equity of 22.21%.

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG - Free Report) by 89.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,567,526 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,212,708 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned 2.19% of Sweetgreen worth $38,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Sweetgreen by 47.1% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,983 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Sweetgreen during the first quarter valued at $71,000. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych lifted its holdings in Sweetgreen by 70.8% during the first quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 4,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sweetgreen during the second quarter valued at $159,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sweetgreen during the second quarter valued at $170,000. 95.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sweetgreen

In other Sweetgreen news, CFO Mitch Reback sold 11,530 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 322,891 shares in the company, valued at $2,967,368.29. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 19.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SG shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $25.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $19.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $9.50 price objective (down from $18.00) on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Monday, October 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Sweetgreen from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Sweetgreen from $19.00 to $13.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.73.

Sweetgreen Trading Up 9.3%

Sweetgreen stock opened at $8.12 on Wednesday. Sweetgreen, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.23 and a 12-month high of $45.12. The stock has a market cap of $960.22 million, a P/E ratio of -9.67 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.84.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 22.21% and a negative net margin of 14.29%.The firm had revenue of $185.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Sweetgreen, Inc. will post -0.74 EPS for the current year.

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.

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