The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) Short Interest Down 32.3% in March

The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,970,000 shares, a decrease of 32.3% from the March 15th total of 4,390,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 933,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert G. Montgomery sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.36, for a total value of $98,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 52,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,075,767.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 10.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simply Good Foods

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Simply Good Foods by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Simply Good Foods by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,454 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Simply Good Foods by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 20,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Ziegler Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Simply Good Foods by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 8,965 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Simply Good Foods by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on SMPL shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Simply Good Foods from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Simply Good Foods in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective (up previously from $41.00) on shares of Simply Good Foods in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Simply Good Foods from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Simply Good Foods from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Simply Good Foods has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.17.

Simply Good Foods Stock Performance

Shares of SMPL stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $31.90. 558,064 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 914,212. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.78. The company has a current ratio of 4.20, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Simply Good Foods has a 52-week low of $30.00 and a 52-week high of $43.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.69.

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.

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