Man Group plc Acquires New Shares in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL)

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 260,895 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,170,000. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.26% of Simply Good Foods at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Simply Good Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 72.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 255.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 119.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,861 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 1,555 shares during the period. 88.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stuart E. Jr. Heflin sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $478,252.75. The trade was a 28.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.35% of the company's stock.

Simply Good Foods Stock Up 0.2%

SMPL stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $34.41. 600,849 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 927,803. 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 moving average price of $35.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72.

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $359.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. Simply Good Foods's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Simply Good Foods Company will post 1.78 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Simply Good Foods in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $41.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Simply Good Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. DA Davidson raised their target price on Simply Good Foods from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Simply Good Foods from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Simply Good Foods from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.00.

Simply Good Foods 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.