Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Given New $40.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) had its target price raised by BMO Capital Markets from $31.00 to $40.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an underperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on SFM. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an underperform rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $53.50.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 2.3 %

Sprouts Farmers Market stock traded up $1.68 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $73.68. The stock had a trading volume of 2,076,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,492,326. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $63.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.87. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12-month low of $32.12 and a 12-month high of $74.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.50.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.77% and a net margin of 4.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $29,923.13. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,597.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $29,923.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 2,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,597.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 82,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,125,414.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 160,852 shares of company stock worth $10,032,745 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 158,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,638,000 after purchasing an additional 14,401 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,152.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 65,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after buying an additional 62,755 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,337,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in 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 valued at $71,075,000 after acquiring an additional 17,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $208,000.

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.