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

Shares of Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.20.

SG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup upgraded Sweetgreen from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $44.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Sweetgreen Trading Down 7.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SG opened at $30.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.38 and a beta of 2.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.31. Sweetgreen has a 1 year low of $10.90 and a 1 year high of $45.12.

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

Insider Activity at Sweetgreen

In other Sweetgreen news, CTO Wouleta Ayele sold 4,347 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.05, for a total transaction of $148,015.35. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 140,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,777,283.10. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicolas Jammet sold 170,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.73, for a total transaction of $6,421,608.27. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,760,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,406,082.82. This represents a 8.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 608,877 shares of company stock worth $23,466,012. 21.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in Sweetgreen by 0.3% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 112,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in Sweetgreen by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 8,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sweetgreen by 2.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $947,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Sweetgreen by 29.1% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the period. 95.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Sweetgreen

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.