Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Upgraded to Outperform by Evercore ISI

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) was upgraded by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $120.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $96.00. Evercore ISI’s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.53% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on SFM. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $102.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $89.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.22.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $102.10 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $93.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.22. Sprouts Farmers Market has a one year low of $39.50 and a one year high of $104.41. The stock has a market cap of $10.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.53%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,718 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total value of $440,686.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 256,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,785,102.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 56,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $5,680,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,895 shares in the company, valued at $1,089,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,718 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total transaction of $440,686.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 256,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,785,102.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 128,939 shares of company stock worth $12,571,295. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth $1,378,000. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter worth $349,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 616,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,748,000 after buying an additional 48,225 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,013,000 after buying an additional 1,237,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 78.8% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 26,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,684,000 after acquiring an additional 11,508 shares in the last quarter.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

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.