Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $12.58, but opened at $13.27. Sweetgreen shares last traded at $12.96, with a volume of 750,398 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on SG. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $35.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $23.00 to $15.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $43.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Monday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $19.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.31.

Sweetgreen Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.22 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.01.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.21) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $166.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.68 million. Sweetgreen had a negative return on equity of 18.82% and a negative net margin of 13.27%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Sweetgreen, Inc. will post -0.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sweetgreen

In other Sweetgreen news, CFO Mitch Reback sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.07, for a total value of $84,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 344,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,258,804.63. This represents a 1.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Clifford Burrows purchased 19,200 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.11 per share, for a total transaction of $251,712.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,712. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 21.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Sweetgreen by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sweetgreen by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,608,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Sweetgreen by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. now owns 96,201 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,084,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Sweetgreen by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.75% of the company's stock.

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.