Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Downgraded by Northcoast Research to “Neutral”

Northcoast Research lowered shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on SFM. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Bank of America lowered Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Roth Capital set a $56.00 price target on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $84.00 to $77.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.77.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $51.60 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.75. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Sprouts Farmers Market has a fifty-two week low of $47.35 and a fifty-two week high of $94.89.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.33 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.45% and a return on equity of 33.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 10,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total transaction of $695,610.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 269,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,408,310.40. The trade was a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph O’Leary sold 2,597 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.57, for a total transaction of $214,434.29. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,214,604.70. This represents a 15.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 35,253 shares of company stock worth $2,523,984 over the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc (NASDAQ:SFM) is a specialty grocery retailer focused on fresh, natural and organic foods. Its stores offer a broad selection of fresh produce, meat and seafood, dairy products, bulk foods, vitamins and supplements, pantry staples, bakery items, deli products and prepared foods. The company emphasizes products that support healthy eating, including organic, plant-based and specialty-diet options.

Founded in 2002, Sprouts Farmers Market grew from its first store in Chandler, Arizona, into a national grocery chain.