Sprout Social’s (SPT) Hold Rating Reiterated at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group reissued their hold rating on shares of Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $9.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $16.00.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on SPT. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Sprout Social from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Sprout Social from $26.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Sprout Social in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Sprout Social from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.11.

Sprout Social Trading Down 9.3%

SPT stock opened at $6.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Sprout Social has a twelve month low of $6.03 and a twelve month high of $27.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $381.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.72 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.09.

Sprout Social (NASDAQ:SPT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $120.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.68 million. Sprout Social had a negative net margin of 9.47% and a negative return on equity of 16.51%. Sprout Social has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.970 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.150-0.160 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sprout Social will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Justyn Russell Howard sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.70, for a total transaction of $428,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,361.90. This represents a 84.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Aaron Edward Frederick Rankin acquired 90,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.14 per share, with a total value of $1,009,963.54. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 114,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,280,754.66. This represents a 372.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 10.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprout Social

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Topline Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Sprout Social in the third quarter worth approximately $17,555,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in Sprout Social by 739.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 714,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,932,000 after acquiring an additional 629,033 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sprout Social in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,694,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Sprout Social by 20,382.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 471,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,850,000 after acquiring an additional 468,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Sprout Social by 182.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 687,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,370,000 after acquiring an additional 443,774 shares in the last quarter.

Key Headlines Impacting Sprout Social

Here are the key news stories impacting Sprout Social this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat estimates and management raised guidance — Sprout reported $0.20 non‑GAAP EPS and $120.9M revenue (both above consensus) and issued Q1 and FY‑2026 non‑GAAP EPS and revenue guidance well above prior expectations; this supports the company’s claim of improving profitability and cash generation. SPT Beats Q4 Sales Expectations (Yahoo)
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic catalysts: management set a new target (30% Rule of 40 on a non‑GAAP basis by Q4 2027), highlighted growth in $30K+ customers (22% subscription revenue growth contribution) and promoted AI product Trellis — these initiatives aim to lift enterprise ARPU and margins over time. Quiver: Targets 30% Rule of 40
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call and disclosures provide detail but mixed signals — transcripts and slide deck show recurring GAAP losses alongside improving non‑GAAP profitability and higher deferred revenue/RPO, giving investors both runway and execution risk to weigh. Seeking Alpha: Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts pared targets and some issued downgrades after the print — KeyCorp cut its target to $6 and moved to underweight, Canaccord trimmed its target to $9 (hold), and Needham sharply reduced a prior $32 target to $14 (still buy); the headline KeyCorp move and mixed analyst views are likely driving near‑term selling pressure. These Analysts Cut Their Forecasts On Sprout Social After Q4 Earnings (Benzinga)
• Negative Sentiment: Underlying fundamentals still show GAAP losses and retention headwinds — Sprout reported a GAAP net loss, negative net margin and dollar‑based net retention of 100% (down from 104%), which keeps execution risk and future growth sustainability on investors’ radar. Quiver: Financial & Customer Metrics
• Negative Sentiment: Insider and institutional flows look unfavorable in recent filings — Quiver/other summaries show multiple insider sales and notable institutional reductions by some large holders, which can amplify downside momentum even when results beat. Quiver: Insider & Institutional Activity

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.