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

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $167.79.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SFM. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $158.72 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 52-week low of $80.69 and a 52-week high of $182.00. The company has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.27. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.53% and a return on equity of 34.20%. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market's revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, SVP Kim Coffin sold 3,643 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.27, for a total value of $634,865.61. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,373.22. This trade represents a 23.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 2,247 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.00, for a total transaction of $388,731.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 7,979 shares in the company, valued at $1,380,367. This represents a 21.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,035 shares of company stock valued at $12,213,719 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter valued at approximately $810,000. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,128,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 106.3% in the second quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 16,178 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 8,336 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the second quarter worth $155,000. Finally, Balefire LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter worth $392,000.

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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