The Fresh Market Sells Off After Pricing Public Offering - Goldman Sachs Gr (NYSE:GS), Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA)

The Fresh Market

the pricing of its

public offering, with 10,033,141 shares of company common stock priced at $50.50. Morgan Stanley

is acting as the sole underwriter. As the transaction underwriter, Morgan Stanley is granted the opportunity, by certain selling stockholders, to purchase an additional 1,504,971 shares of common stock. The Fresh Market traded down about 2% early Wednesday, but has been enjoying a nice run-up. The specialty retailer and grocer released Q1 2012 earnings on May 30, reporting a 43% rise in Q1 fiscal year profit and raising company full-year earnings guidance from $1.26-1.31 to $1.28-1.34 per share. The Fresh Market traded

up over 13%

on May 30. Shares continued their momentum in the next session,

adding an additional 3.5%

and briefly hitting a high of $59. On May 31, both Goldman Sachs

and JP Morgan

JPM

increased price targets on the company - Goldman Sachs

raised its target

from $47 to $53 while JP Morgan

boosted its target

from $55 to $61. In JP Morgan's report, the research firm also reiterated its Overweight rating, stating:

"TFM's top line and gross margin seem to be gaining momentum, and we have no reason to believe the drivers behind 1Q12's results will not continue in the future. Additionally, since it is still early in the fiscal year, we think management's slightly raised guidance could be conservative, which would make the case for further earnings beats more likely. Though TFM is expensive on nearly every valuation metric, we believe the company's growth potential and recent high-single-digit comps justify the stock's current premium."

The Fresh Market

operates 115 stores

across 21 states nationwide, with a focus on specialty and healthy food items - similar to competitors Whole Foods

WFM

, Weis Markets

WMK

, and

small-cap player

Ingles Markets

IMKTA

. Shares of Fresh Market are up almost 27% year-to-date, and up over 49% in the last 12 months.

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