Prospector Partners LLC Makes New $10.19 Million Investment in The Simply Good Foods Company $SMPL

Key Points

• Prospector Partners LLC has invested approximately $10.19 million in The Simply Good Foods Company, acquiring 295,378 shares and representing about 0.29% of the company's stock.
• CEO Geoff E. Tanner has personally purchased 6,050 shares of Simply Good Foods stock, increasing his ownership by 6.57% after the transaction.
• Simply Good Foods reported earnings of $0.51 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenues showing a 13.8% year-over-year increase.

Prospector Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 295,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,188,000. Prospector Partners LLC owned about 0.29% of Simply Good Foods as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SMPL. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 9,890 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Simply Good Foods by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 45,685 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,781,000 after acquiring an additional 15,275 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 163,180 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,361,000 after purchasing an additional 8,041 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,272 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Simply Good Foods by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 402,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,684,000 after purchasing an additional 11,197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.45% of the company's stock.

Simply Good Foods Stock Performance

Shares of SMPL stock traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,121,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,127,616. The Simply Good Foods Company has a fifty-two week low of $28.14 and a fifty-two week high of $40.53. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.95 and a quick ratio of 2.46. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $31.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.18.

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $380,956 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.68 million. Simply Good Foods had a net margin of 9.97% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business's revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Simply Good Foods Company will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Geoff E. Tanner purchased 6,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $33.11 per share, for a total transaction of $200,315.50. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 98,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,251,070.90. This trade represents a 6.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 9.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SMPL. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Simply Good Foods from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Simply Good Foods from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 price target on Simply Good Foods and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $36.00 price target on shares of Simply Good Foods and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Simply Good Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Simply Good Foods has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $39.88.

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.