Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Hits New 12-Month High at $75.36

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $75.36 and last traded at $75.29, with a volume of 227651 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $73.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SFM. Bank of America upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $48.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.50.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 26.77%. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 158,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,638,000 after purchasing an additional 14,401 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,152.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 65,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 62,755 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,477,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,075,000 after acquiring an additional 17,565 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth about $1,337,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at about $208,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company Profile

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.