Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.12 EPS

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.71% and a net margin of 3.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 12.0 %

SFM stock traded up $7.71 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $72.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,308,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,359,345. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.50. The business's 50 day moving average price is $63.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12 month low of $32.12 and a 12 month high of $74.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 3,865 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total value of $240,441.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at $518,084.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 3,865 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total transaction of $240,441.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at $518,084.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 3,774 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $234,969.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,748 shares in the company, valued at $669,170.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 160,852 shares of company stock worth $10,032,745. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.50.

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.