The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) Shares Purchased by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL - Free Report) by 25.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,240,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 1.23% of Simply Good Foods worth $42,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 302,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,807,000 after purchasing an additional 85,400 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 1,671 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 253,799 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,893,000 after buying an additional 2,990 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in Simply Good Foods by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 313,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,227,000 after acquiring an additional 46,375 shares during the period. Finally, Nkcfo LLC purchased a new stake in Simply Good Foods during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $234,000. 88.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Simply Good Foods news, SVP Stuart E. Jr. Heflin sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total value of $186,250.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 9.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Simply Good Foods Price Performance

Shares of SMPL traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,768,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 949,795. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The Simply Good Foods Company has a 12-month low of $31.25 and a 12-month high of $40.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72.

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $359.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.50 million. Simply Good Foods had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Simply Good Foods Company will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SMPL shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on Simply Good Foods in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $41.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Simply Good Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Simply Good Foods from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Simply Good Foods from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Simply Good Foods from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Simply Good Foods presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.67.

About Simply Good Foods

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.