Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

SFM has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Sprouts Farmers Market from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $34.88.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $41.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.15. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 52-week low of $30.10 and a 52-week high of $44.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.78.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.89% and a net margin of 3.78%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CFO Lawrence Molloy sold 71,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total transaction of $2,871,052.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 117,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,723,240.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 6,626 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.99, for a total value of $264,973.74. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lawrence Molloy sold 71,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total value of $2,871,052.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 117,202 shares in the company, valued at $4,723,240.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 197,085 shares of company stock worth $7,983,441. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 3,389 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter worth approximately $387,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 336,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,747,000 after acquiring an additional 5,334 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 41,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 3,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.1% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 78,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,588,000 after acquiring an additional 16,200 shares in the last quarter.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, retails fresh, natural, and organic food products in the United States. It provides perishable product categories, including fresh produce, meat, 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.