Whole Foods Market Hits 52-Week High (WFMI)

Shares of Austin, Texas based Whole Foods Market, Inc. WFMI are currently up 13.7% at $46.71 per share during Thursday morning trading. Today's trading range for shares of Whole Foods Market, Inc has been between $44.85 and a 52-week high of $46.80 per share. The consensus price target of analysts covering the company's stock is $41.82 per share. Volume of 5.7 million shares is already more than double the daily average volume of 2.7 million shares. Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFMI) released financial results after the market closed on Wednesday that beat Wall Street estimates. Whole Foods Market, Inc reported 4th quarter earnings of 33 cents per share, on revenue of $2.1 billion. A poll of analysts conducted by Thomson Reuters showed an average Wall Street estimate of expected earnings of 28 cents per share, on revenue of $2.07 billion. Co-chief executive officer Walter Robb said, "Our business has been highly successful, producing industry-leading comparable store sales growth, average weekly sales and sales per square foot. With just 301 stores today, we remain incredibly excited about our future growth opportunities as customer demand for natural and organic foods continues to increase. From a financial perspective, we are well-positioned to reaccelerate our new store growth. Our strong top- and bottom-line performance, along with our renewed capital expense discipline, have resulted in consistent cash flow, lower debt and a very healthy balance sheet. We have signed 20 new leases over the last 12 months and expect to open a greater number of new stores beginning in 2012." Read more from Benzinga's Company news.