Brokerages Set The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) Target Price at $41.00

The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

A number of research firms recently commented on SMPL. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Simply Good Foods from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Simply Good Foods from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Simply Good Foods in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $41.00 target price for the company. Finally, 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 report on Friday, April 11th.

Simply Good Foods Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of SMPL traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 157,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 921,106. The company's 50-day moving average is $35.29 and its 200-day moving average is $36.69. Simply Good Foods has a 52-week low of $31.25 and a 52-week high of $40.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $354.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Simply Good Foods will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stuart E. Jr. Heflin sold 5,000 shares of Simply Good Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total value of $186,250.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,839 shares in the company, valued at $478,252.75. This trade represents a 28.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 9.35% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simply Good Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,566,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $372,890,000 after buying an additional 4,437,372 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 2.7% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,194,531 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $179,160,000 after buying an additional 134,618 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 18.3% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,195,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $144,703,000 after buying an additional 649,258 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,811,128 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $148,558,000 after buying an additional 366,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 5.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,764,646 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $129,841,000 after buying an additional 210,782 shares in the last quarter. 88.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.