Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) saw a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,620,000 shares, a decrease of 15.5% from the February 13th total of 6,650,000 shares. Currently, 5.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Insider Activity

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total transaction of $143,743.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. This trade represents a 9.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total value of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,690 shares of company stock worth $1,869,825. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,117,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at $53,946,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after buying an additional 294,553 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $136.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $150.79 and a 200-day moving average of $135.17. The company has a market cap of $13.50 billion, a PE ratio of 36.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market has a one year low of $60.46 and a one year high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company Profile

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.