Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Shares Gap Up to $29.27

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $29.27, but opened at $30.19. Sweetgreen shares last traded at $31.23, with a volume of 575,118 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SG shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Sweetgreen from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sweetgreen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.20.

Sweetgreen Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of -33.55 and a beta of 2.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.22.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.02). Sweetgreen had a negative net margin of 14.33% and a negative return on equity of 19.34%. The business had revenue of $184.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.20) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Sweetgreen, Inc. will post -0.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sweetgreen

In other news, CFO Mitch Reback sold 9,156 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total transaction of $335,201.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 379,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,881,816.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Adrienne Gemperle sold 6,225 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.40, for a total transaction of $207,915.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 112,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,763,679. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mitch Reback sold 9,156 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total transaction of $335,201.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 379,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,881,816.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 371,116 shares of company stock valued at $13,248,867 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 21.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sweetgreen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in Sweetgreen by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 12,326,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,516,000 after acquiring an additional 721,740 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Sweetgreen by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,420,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,713,000 after acquiring an additional 70,395 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sweetgreen by 231.8% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,688,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878,216 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Sweetgreen by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,763,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,151,000 after acquiring an additional 39,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Sweetgreen by 42.6% in the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,643,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,521,000 after purchasing an additional 490,806 shares during the period. 95.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sweetgreen Company Profile

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.