Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Price Target Cut to $61.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $62.00 to $61.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “in-line” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s target price suggests a potential downside of 2.54% from the stock’s previous close.

SFM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.14.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $62.59. The company had a trading volume of 208,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,271,882. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1-year low of $32.12 and a 1-year high of $65.53. The stock has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $60.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.71.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.71% and a net margin of 3.79%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total transaction of $1,978,591.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 82,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,125,414.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total transaction of $1,978,591.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 82,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,125,414.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 3,774 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $234,969.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $669,170.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,852 shares of company stock valued at $10,032,745. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 614.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,039,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,359,000 after acquiring an additional 2,614,241 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the first quarter worth $54,912,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 111.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,093,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,146,000 after buying an additional 1,629,709 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,013,000 after buying an additional 1,237,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 77.9% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,726,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,416,000 after acquiring an additional 756,017 shares during the period.

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.