JPMorgan Chase & Co. Begins Coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a neutral rating on Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) with a price target of $159.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.98% from the current price.
• The stock's performance shows a 1-year low of $95.25 and a 1-year high of $182.00, with recent quarterly revenue of $2.22 billion exceeding analysts' expectations.
• Insider trading activities saw Directors Joe Fortunato and Joseph D. O'leary selling a combined 13,000 shares of stock, reflecting a decrease in their ownership stakes.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set a "neutral" rating and a $159.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective points to a potential upside of 6.30% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group set a $180.00 price target on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $173.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital set a $155.00 target price on Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $173.73.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock traded up $2.33 on Wednesday, reaching $149.58. The company had a trading volume of 281,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,725,601. The firm has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $158.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.44. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1 year low of $95.25 and a 1 year high of $182.00.

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

Sprouts Farmers Market declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 19th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph D. O'leary sold 2,937 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.07, for a total transaction of $440,755.59. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,250,149.58. This represents a 16.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.57, for a total value of $1,475,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,164 shares in the company, valued at $2,680,461.48. The trade was a 35.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,589 shares of company stock valued at $8,926,483 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Unified Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 7,326 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.6% in the second quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 10,355 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% in the second quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 3,059 shares of the company's stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.8% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alteri Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 7,627 shares of the company's stock worth $1,256,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period.

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.