Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 155,974 Shares of The Simply Good Foods Company $SMPL

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in The Simply Good Foods Company by 1.5%, selling 155,974 shares, and now owns 10.32% of the company's stock, valued at approximately $359.57 million.
• Wall Street analysts have a mixed outlook, with target prices ranging from $38.00 to $47.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The Simply Good Foods Company reported a 13.8% increase in revenue year-over-year, with a Q1 EPS of $0.51, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,425,314 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 155,974 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.32% of Simply Good Foods worth $359,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 45,685 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,781,000 after buying an additional 15,275 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Simply Good Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Simply Good Foods in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,437,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Simply Good Foods in the 1st quarter worth approximately $712,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Simply Good Foods by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the period. 88.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simply Good Foods Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of SMPL traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $29.37. 1,178,545 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,239,038. The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The Simply Good Foods Company has a 1 year low of $28.14 and a 1 year high of $40.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.59. The business's 50-day moving average price is $31.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.18.

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

Insider Activity

In other Simply Good Foods news, CEO Geoff E. Tanner bought 6,050 shares of Simply Good Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $33.11 per share, with a total value of $200,315.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 98,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,251,070.90. This represents a 6.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on SMPL shares. UBS Group set a $36.00 price target on Simply Good Foods and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on Simply Good Foods from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Simply Good Foods from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 price target on Simply Good Foods and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Simply Good Foods from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Simply Good Foods has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.88.

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.