Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.20.

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Sweetgreen in a report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Sweetgreen from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sweetgreen in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Sweetgreen from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Sweetgreen Trading Up 6.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SG opened at $32.21 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of -34.63 and a beta of 2.32. Sweetgreen has a 1 year low of $8.64 and a 1 year high of $38.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.87.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.02). Sweetgreen had a negative return on equity of 19.34% and a negative net margin of 14.33%. The company had revenue of $184.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.79 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.20) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sweetgreen will post -0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sweetgreen

In related news, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 7,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.81, for a total transaction of $213,194.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,930,228 shares in the company, valued at $55,609,868.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CTO Wouleta Ayele sold 2,831 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.31, for a total value of $102,793.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 144,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,252,205.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 7,400 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.81, for a total transaction of $213,194.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,930,228 shares in the company, valued at $55,609,868.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 387,766 shares of company stock worth $13,727,906. Company insiders own 21.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sweetgreen by 231.8% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,688,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878,216 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen during the 1st quarter worth about $29,105,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,449,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Sweetgreen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,109,000. Finally, Teca Partners LP acquired a new position in Sweetgreen in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,475,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.75% of the company’s stock.

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.