Traders Buy High Volume of Sweetgreen Call Options (NYSE:SG)

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 11,745 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 85% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,336 call options.

Insider Activity at Sweetgreen

In other news, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 1,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total transaction of $40,410.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,930,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,228,422.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Mitch Reback sold 9,156 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total transaction of $335,201.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 379,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,881,816.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 1,010 shares of the firm’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 $40,410.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,930,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,228,422.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 428,334 shares of company stock worth $15,162,663 in the last ninety days. 21.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SG. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Sweetgreen during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Sweetgreen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Sweetgreen during the third quarter worth approximately $216,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen during the second quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Precision Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sweetgreen during the third quarter worth approximately $227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.75% of the company’s stock.

Sweetgreen Stock Performance

SG traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $36.89. 304,983 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,803,696. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of -44.01 and a beta of 2.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $34.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.55. Sweetgreen has a fifty-two week low of $8.64 and a fifty-two week high of $40.20.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $184.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.79 million. Sweetgreen had a negative return on equity of 19.34% and a negative net margin of 14.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Sweetgreen will post -0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SG. Citigroup lifted their target price on Sweetgreen from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Sweetgreen from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reissued 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. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Sweetgreen from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Sweetgreen from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.20.

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.