Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Short Interest Update

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,620,000 shares, a drop of 15.5% from the February 13th total of 6,650,000 shares. Currently, 5.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $140.82 on Thursday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1 year low of $60.46 and a 1 year high of $178.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $150.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.21. The firm has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a PE ratio of 37.45, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $61,151.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,436 shares in the company, valued at $609,595.12. This trade represents a 9.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 79,653 shares of company stock valued at $11,080,042. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,554,000 after purchasing an additional 56,652 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,322,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,634,000 after acquiring an additional 56,161 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,231,000 after acquiring an additional 168,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after purchasing an additional 294,553 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SFM shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.92.

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.