Short Interest in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Expands By 18.1%

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,630,000 shares, a growth of 18.1% from the April 30th total of 6,460,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,710,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 7.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 2.3%

NASDAQ SFM traded down $4.07 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $171.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,264,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,454,664. The company has a market capitalization of $16.75 billion, a PE ratio of 45.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company's 50-day moving average price is $162.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12 month low of $74.15 and a 12 month high of $182.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $122,303.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,347 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,464.74. This represents a 8.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total value of $143,743.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,326,755.10. This represents a 9.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,547 shares of company stock worth $21,583,280 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 92.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 192 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 115.4% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 265 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital set a $155.00 target price on Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $167.79.

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.

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