Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) Reaches New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPT)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $15.00 to $12.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Sprout Social traded as low as $7.79 and last traded at $8.01, with a volume of 3351600 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.68.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Sprout Social in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Sprout Social from $25.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Sprout Social from $26.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Sprout Social from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprout Social has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Paul Barretto purchased 93,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.67 per share, with a total value of $1,002,809.28. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 875,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,338,981.52. The trade was a 12.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin acquired 90,661 shares of Sprout Social stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.14 per share, with a total value of $1,009,963.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 114,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,280,754.66. This trade represents a 372.97% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprout Social

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Sprout Social by 78.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 2,754.5% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 3,388 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Sprout Social by 264.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Sprout Social by 266.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 2,860 shares during the last quarter.

Sprout Social Trading Down 2.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $467.01 million, a PE ratio of -9.74 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $115.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.86 million. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 10.59% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. Sprout Social’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Sprout Social, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

About Sprout Social

Sprout Social (NASDAQ: SPT) is a Chicago-based software company specializing in social media management solutions for businesses of all sizes. The company provides a cloud-based platform designed to help organizations improve their social media presence through a suite of tools for content scheduling, community engagement, social listening and analytics. Sprout Social’s platform is built to streamline the workflows of marketing, customer care and public relations teams by providing a centralized hub for managing multiple social channels.

The company’s product offerings include publishing and scheduling capabilities that allow users to plan and automate social content across networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.