Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on SFM. Roth Capital restated a “neutral” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets set a $90.00 price target on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $124.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $178.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.86.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.1%

SFM opened at $80.39 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1 year low of $75.75 and a 1 year high of $182.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $90.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.70.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.05. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.93% and a return on equity of 38.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sprouts Farmers Market has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.240-5.280 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.860-0.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Sprouts Farmers Market declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 19th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, insider John Scott Neal sold 17,471 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total transaction of $1,488,529.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 14,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,207,965.60. The trade was a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 4,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.00, for a total transaction of $416,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 174,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,998,220. This represents a 2.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 22,384 shares of company stock worth $1,999,342 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 98.6% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 284 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the first quarter valued at $35,000.

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.