Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Shares Down 8.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG - Get Free Report) traded down 8.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $28.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Sweetgreen traded as low as $31.06 and last traded at $30.67. 493,586 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 2,061,860 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.50.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on SG. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Sweetgreen from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a "sector weight" rating for the company. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Sweetgreen from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sweetgreen currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.20.

Insider Activity at Sweetgreen

In other Sweetgreen news, CFO Mitch Reback sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.13, for a total transaction of $265,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 350,981 shares in the company, valued at $11,628,000.53. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nathaniel Ru sold 1,263 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total value of $50,532.63. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,952,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $78,104,681.29. This represents a 0.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 648,838 shares of company stock worth $25,065,773 in the last quarter. 21.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sweetgreen

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in Sweetgreen during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,127 shares of the company's stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC boosted its position in Sweetgreen by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Sweetgreen by 68.4% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Sweetgreen in the third quarter worth about $155,000. 95.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sweetgreen Stock Down 8.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of -39.14 and a beta of 2.38. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $35.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.86.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $173.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.67 million. Sweetgreen had a negative net margin of 13.27% and a negative return on equity of 18.82%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.22) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sweetgreen, Inc. will post -0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Sweetgreen

Sweetgreen, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates fast food restaurants serving healthy foods at scale in the United States. The company also accepts orders through its online and mobile ordering platforms, as well as sells gift cards that do not have an expiration date and can be redeemed. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.