Fresh Market's stock surges after upgrade at Sterne Agee CRT

Fresh Market Inc.'s stock surged 2.9% in light premarket trade Tuesday, after Sterne Agee CRT upgraded the grocery store chain, saying its previous bearish thesis appears to have been played out. Analyst Charles Grom raised his rating to neutral, after being at underperform since May 7, 2014. The stock has tumbled 48% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500 has lost 6.7%. Grom said the stock's underperformance has been justified, as the recent volatility in the broader market has exposed the company's weaker fundamentals, but he wrote in a note to clients that he now believes "sentiment/shares have now moved down to levels that adequately discount most of the downside." Grom said short-interest, or bearish bets, on the stock are around 12-month highs, the stock ranked last out of 16 in the Sterney Sentiment Index and technical indicators have fallen to the extremely oversold levels.

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