Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Upgraded to “Market Perform” at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has $102.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $40.00.

Several other research analysts have also commented on SFM. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $93.38.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $97.67 on Tuesday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a twelve month low of $37.10 and a twelve month high of $103.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.85.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 7,895 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.38, for a total value of $776,710.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,071 shares in the company, valued at $4,434,084.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 1,904 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $192,532.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,237 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,165.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 7,895 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.38, for a total value of $776,710.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,434,084.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 132,746 shares of company stock worth $11,648,541. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.2% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 4,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.8% during the first quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 216 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.