Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Announces Earnings Results

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07, Zacks reports. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of SFM traded down $6.17 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $169.80. 2,278,803 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,320,384. The business has a fifty day moving average of $147.79 and a 200-day moving average of $128.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a PE ratio of 49.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.63. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1-year low of $52.24 and a 1-year high of $178.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total value of $488,379.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph D. O’leary sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total value of $52,538.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,991 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,629.01. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on SFM. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.50.

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.