Wall Street Zen Upgrades Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL) to "Buy"

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on SMPL. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Simply Good Foods from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Simply Good Foods from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. 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. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Simply Good Foods in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $41.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Simply Good Foods Price Performance

Shares of SMPL stock traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $34.40. 214,429 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 923,965. Simply Good Foods has a fifty-two week low of $31.25 and a fifty-two week high of $40.53. The stock's fifty day moving average is $35.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.75. The company has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 4.23 and a quick ratio of 2.75.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Stuart E. Jr. Heflin sold 5,000 shares of Simply Good Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total transaction of $186,250.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $478,252.75. The trade was a 28.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simply Good Foods

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMPL. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Simply Good Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Simply Good Foods by 72.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Simply Good Foods during the first quarter worth $54,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Simply Good Foods during the first quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 255.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. 88.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simply Good Foods Company 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.