Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL) Stock

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $37.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Simply Good Foods from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.22.

Simply Good Foods Stock Performance

Shares of SMPL opened at $38.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 4.23 and a quick ratio of 2.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.74 and a 200-day moving average of $36.31. The company has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.63. Simply Good Foods has a one year low of $31.25 and a one year high of $40.53.

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. Simply Good Foods had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firm had revenue of $359.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Simply Good Foods will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Simply Good Foods

In related news, SVP Stuart E. Jr. Heflin sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total transaction of $186,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $478,252.75. This represents a 28.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 9.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simply Good Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Simply Good Foods by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 51,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,796,000 after acquiring an additional 15,455 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 255.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,666,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $127,473,000 after purchasing an additional 208,070 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Simply Good Foods by 47.8% during the 4th quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 141,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,512,000 after buying an additional 45,738 shares during the last quarter. 88.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simply Good Foods Company Profile

The Simply Good Foods Company operates as a consumer-packaged food and beverage company in North America and internationally. The company develops, markets, and sells snacks and meal replacements. It offers protein bars, ready-to-drink shakes, sweet and salty snacks, cookies, protein chips, and recipes under the Atkins and Quest brand names.