Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) shares reached a new 52-week high on Friday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $26.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Sweetgreen traded as high as $34.45 and last traded at $32.96, with a volume of 7367530 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.56.

SG has been the subject of several other reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Sweetgreen from $17.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $11.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $20.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sweetgreen currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mitch Reback sold 29,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $619,269.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 405,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,521,319.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Adrienne Gemperle sold 12,442 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.33, for a total value of $140,967.86. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 127,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,441,753.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mitch Reback sold 29,475 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total transaction of $619,269.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 405,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,521,319.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 130,267 shares of company stock valued at $2,090,933 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 21.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sweetgreen

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,907,749 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Sweetgreen by 1,435.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,674,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,565,700 shares in the last quarter. Teca Partners LP purchased a new stake in Sweetgreen in the 4th quarter worth $8,475,000. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sweetgreen in the 4th quarter worth $8,452,000. Finally, Pathstone Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Sweetgreen by 4,779.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 694,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,156,000 after acquiring an additional 679,877 shares in the last quarter. 95.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sweetgreen Trading Up 40.4 %

The company has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of -33.02 and a beta of 2.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.34 and its 200 day moving average is $14.74.

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

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.