Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $167.00.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,137,080.80. The trade was a 14.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,764 shares of company stock worth $13,562,649. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,633,000 after acquiring an additional 7,355 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth about $13,348,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 181,364 shares of the company's stock worth $23,046,000 after acquiring an additional 37,637 shares during the period.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

NASDAQ:SFM traded up $2.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $173.72. 790,995 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,585,647. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1 year low of $69.96 and a 1 year high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $17.06 billion, a PE ratio of 46.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $150.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.56.

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

Sprouts Farmers Market Company Profile

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.