Morgan Stanley Cuts Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Price Target to $28.00

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $32.00 to $28.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Sweetgreen from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Sweetgreen from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Sweetgreen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on Sweetgreen in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sweetgreen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.20.

Sweetgreen Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SG opened at $29.96 on Tuesday. Sweetgreen has a fifty-two week low of $10.17 and a fifty-two week high of $45.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.82. The company has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.41 and a beta of 2.38.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.02). Sweetgreen had a negative net margin of 13.27% and a negative return on equity of 18.82%. The business had revenue of $173.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.22) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Sweetgreen will post -0.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sweetgreen news, CFO Mitch Reback sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.13, for a total transaction of $265,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 350,981 shares in the company, valued at $11,628,000.53. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nathaniel Ru sold 1,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total transaction of $50,532.63. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,952,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $78,104,681.29. This trade represents a 0.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 648,838 shares of company stock worth $25,065,773. 21.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Sweetgreen by 65.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 2,034 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC grew its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 4,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 2,488 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen in the 4th quarter worth about $582,000. Finally, Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in Sweetgreen by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. 95.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sweetgreen Company Profile

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.