Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $148.00 target price on Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $173.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $159.00 target price on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.29.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ SFM opened at $110.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.77. Sprouts Farmers Market has a twelve month low of $98.75 and a twelve month high of $182.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.77.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.77%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.200-5.320 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.120-1.160 EPS. Research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sprouts Farmers Market announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.57, for a total value of $1,475,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,680,461.48. This trade represents a 35.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO James H. Bahrenburg sold 4,292 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $588,261.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 9,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,256,429.02. This trade represents a 31.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,429 shares of company stock valued at $5,351,362 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 20.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter valued at $270,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.8% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 17,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,691,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 403.3% in the first quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter.

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.