The Goldman Sachs Group Reiterates Neutral Rating for Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG)

The Goldman Sachs Group restated their neutral rating on shares of Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $40.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Sweetgreen in a research note on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Sweetgreen from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Sweetgreen from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Sweetgreen from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Sweetgreen in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.80.

Sweetgreen Trading Down 5.9 %

Sweetgreen stock opened at $39.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.47. Sweetgreen has a 12 month low of $8.64 and a 12 month high of $42.77. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of -50.88 and a beta of 2.32.

Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $184.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.79 million. Sweetgreen had a negative net margin of 13.27% and a negative return on equity of 18.71%. Sweetgreen’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sweetgreen will post -0.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nathaniel Ru sold 9,250 shares of Sweetgreen stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.74, for a total transaction of $265,845.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,952,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,104,187.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jonathan Neman sold 7,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.81, for a total transaction of $213,194.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,930,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,609,868.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nathaniel Ru sold 9,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.74, for a total transaction of $265,845.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,952,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,104,187.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 466,022 shares of company stock worth $16,671,481 in the last quarter. 21.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,878,216 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sweetgreen in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,105,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Sweetgreen during the second quarter valued at $33,449,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Sweetgreen during the second quarter valued at $29,109,000. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in shares of Sweetgreen by 6.2% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 12,326,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,516,000 after acquiring an additional 721,740 shares during the last quarter. 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.