Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 1,276,616 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the previous session’s volume of 1,327,347 shares.The stock last traded at $79.10 and had previously closed at $78.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SFM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $48.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.25.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.9 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.21. The company has a market cap of $8.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.50. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 26.77%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 22,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $1,367,484.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,513.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 3,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $234,969.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $669,170.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 22,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $1,367,484.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,328 shares in the company, valued at $499,513.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 215,567 shares of company stock valued at $14,114,924. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000.

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.