Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on SFM. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $173.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $180.00 price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $148.00 price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.29.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $111.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.03. Sprouts Farmers Market has a one year low of $98.75 and a one year high of $182.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sprouts Farmers Market has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.200-5.320 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.120-1.160 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sprouts Farmers Market declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 19th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.95, for a total transaction of $1,000,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,271,693.55. This represents a 30.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.57, for a total transaction of $1,475,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,680,461.48. This represents a 35.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,429 shares of company stock valued at $5,351,362 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unified Investment Management raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 7,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 10,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,691,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 3,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alteri Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 7,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,256,000 after buying an additional 72 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.