Weiss Ratings Reaffirms "Sell (E+)" Rating for Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed its "Sell (E+)" rating for Sprout Social (NASDAQ: SPT), reflecting ongoing concerns from analysts regarding the stock's performance.
• In recent analysis, Sprout Social's stock ratings have varied, with Zacks lowering its rating from "strong-buy" to "hold," and Goldman Sachs cutting its price objective from $24 to $21.
• Sprout Social reported a quarterly earnings beat, posting $0.18 EPS compared to analysts' estimates of $0.15, with revenues growing 12.5% year-over-year.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (e+)" rating reissued by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sprout Social from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $32.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sprout Social has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.36.

Sprout Social Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Sprout Social stock opened at $11.69 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Sprout Social has a 12-month low of $11.63 and a 12-month high of $36.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $687.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.31 and a beta of 0.84. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $14.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.71.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.03. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 12.70% and a negative return on equity of 25.95%. The business had revenue of $111.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.09 EPS. Sprout Social's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Sprout Social will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprout Social

In related news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.81, for a total transaction of $236,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,594.77. This trade represents a 72.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Walker sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.05, for a total transaction of $95,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $551,745.15. The trade was a 14.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,566 shares of company stock worth $790,431. 10.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprout Social

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPT. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Sprout Social by 391.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 35,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 28,667 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Sprout Social by 19,500.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,016 shares of the company's stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 8,970 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Sprout Social by 9.6% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 76,976 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 6,774 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Sprout Social by 31.0% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 12,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peregrine Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sprout Social by 3.3% during the first quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 178,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,923,000 after purchasing an additional 5,709 shares in the last quarter.

Sprout Social Company Profile

Sprout Social, Inc designs, develops, and operates a web-based social media management platform in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides cloud software for social messaging, data and workflows in a unified system of record, intelligence, and action.

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