Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Downgraded by Northcoast Research to “Neutral”

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) was downgraded by Northcoast Research from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SFM. Roth Capital set a $56.00 target price on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Sprouts Farmers Market from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $111.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Bank of America downgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $84.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.77.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM stock opened at $54.40 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.76. Sprouts Farmers Market has a fifty-two week low of $47.35 and a fifty-two week high of $94.89.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.01). Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 33.83% and a net margin of 5.45%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 10,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total transaction of $695,610.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 269,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,408,310.40. The trade was a 3.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph O’Leary sold 2,597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total value of $214,434.29. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,710 shares in the company, valued at $1,214,604.70. This trade represents a 15.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 35,253 shares of company stock valued at $2,523,984 in the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the second quarter worth $768,171,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter valued at $131,310,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter valued at $93,790,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 2nd quarter valued at $55,713,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,540,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company Profile

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc (NASDAQ:SFM) is a specialty grocery retailer focused on fresh, natural and organic foods. Its stores offer a broad selection of fresh produce, meat and seafood, dairy products, bulk foods, vitamins and supplements, pantry staples, bakery items, deli products and prepared foods. The company emphasizes products that support healthy eating, including organic, plant-based and specialty-diet options.

Founded in 2002, Sprouts Farmers Market grew from its first store in Chandler, Arizona, into a national grocery chain.