Morgan Stanley Raises Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Price Target to $17.00

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $16.00 to $17.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 45.57% from the company’s previous close.

SG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Sweetgreen from $17.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Sweetgreen from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Sweetgreen from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Sweetgreen from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Sweetgreen from $20.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.13.

Sweetgreen Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SG traded up $7.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.23. 16,724,129 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,406,293. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.74. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of -31.48 and a beta of 2.22. Sweetgreen has a 12 month low of $8.64 and a 12 month high of $34.45.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $157.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.02 million. Sweetgreen had a negative return on equity of 21.58% and a negative net margin of 19.41%. The company’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.29) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Sweetgreen will post -0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sweetgreen

In other Sweetgreen news, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 58,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.36, for a total value of $949,976.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,356,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Sweetgreen news, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 58,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.36, for a total value of $949,976.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,356,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mitch Reback sold 6,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.32, for a total value of $80,732.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 449,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,537,876.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 130,267 shares of company stock worth $2,090,933. 21.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sweetgreen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,810,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,019,000 after buying an additional 84,375 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 12,009,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,117,000 after buying an additional 2,907,749 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,350,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,361,000 after purchasing an additional 224,522 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,729,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,549,000 after purchasing an additional 476,998 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 1,435.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,674,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565,700 shares during the period. 95.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sweetgreen

Sweetgreen, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates fast food restaurants serving healthy foods at scale in the United States. The company also accepts orders through its online and mobile ordering platforms, as well as sells gift cards that do not have an expiration date and can be redeemed. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.