Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Rating Increased to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating, setting a price target of $180.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.03% from its current price.
• Other analysts, including Jefferies Financial Group and Barclays, have also raised their ratings and price targets for Sprouts Farmers Market, suggesting a strong positive sentiment among analysts.
• In its most recent earnings report, Sprouts Farmers Market reported $1.35 EPS, beating estimates, with revenue of $2.22 billion reflecting a year-over-year growth of 17.3%.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $180.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $175.00. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 20.81% from the stock's previous close.

SFM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $173.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital set a $155.00 price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. 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, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.87.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFM traded down $2.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $148.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,033,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,505,175. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.78. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $162.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.65. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1 year low of $94.15 and a 1 year high of $182.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.77%. The company's revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joseph D. O'leary sold 2,937 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.07, for a total transaction of $440,755.59. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,250,149.58. This trade represents a 16.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.38, for a total transaction of $328,760.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,180,171.94. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,725 shares of company stock valued at $11,511,003 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company's stock worth $567,322,000 after buying an additional 24,000 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,217,900 shares of the company's stock worth $338,481,000 after acquiring an additional 15,930 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company's stock worth $234,231,000 after acquiring an additional 168,605 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $201,139,000 after acquiring an additional 294,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,033.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,476,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,097 shares during the period.

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.