Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Reaches New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $179.60 and last traded at $179.53, with a volume of 2186742 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $172.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $167.79.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.75 billion, a PE ratio of 45.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $162.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.06.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 49,898 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $6,856,983.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 189,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,034,081.58. The trade was a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. The trade was a 9.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 144,547 shares of company stock valued at $21,583,280. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,033.4% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,476,351 shares of the company's stock worth $225,350,000 after buying an additional 1,346,097 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at about $143,113,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 300.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,037,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $158,316,000 after acquiring an additional 778,079 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at about $106,852,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter.

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.