Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on SG. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 price objective on Sweetgreen in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $9.50 price objective (down previously from $18.00) on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Sweetgreen from $8.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.82.

Sweetgreen Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE SG traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $5.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 672,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,191,023. The company has a market capitalization of $692.60 million, a PE ratio of -6.08 and a beta of 1.94. Sweetgreen has a 52 week low of $5.14 and a 52 week high of $45.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.27.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $172.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.29 million. Sweetgreen had a negative return on equity of 25.67% and a negative net margin of 16.55%.Sweetgreen’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Sweetgreen will post -0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sweetgreen

In related news, CFO Mitch Reback sold 11,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.19, for a total value of $105,960.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 322,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,967,368.29. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jonathan Neman bought 179,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.56 per share, with a total value of $999,688.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 179,800 shares in the company, valued at $999,688. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 19.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sweetgreen

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SG. Spyglass Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sweetgreen by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Spyglass Capital Management LLC now owns 4,056,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,371,000 after buying an additional 156,757 shares in the last quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sweetgreen during the third quarter valued at about $410,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Sweetgreen by 1,428.8% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,923,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,313,000 after purchasing an additional 3,667,306 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC boosted its stake in Sweetgreen by 110.5% in the 3rd quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,394,000 after purchasing an additional 157,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhouse Funds LLLP boosted its stake in Sweetgreen by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Greenhouse Funds LLLP now owns 3,946,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788,175 shares in the last quarter. 95.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.