MQS Management LLC Invests $258,000 in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMPL. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Simply Good Foods by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Simply Good Foods by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 20,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its position in shares of Simply Good Foods by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 11,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 103.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Simply Good Foods by 121.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simply Good Foods

In related news, Director James D. White sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.17, for a total value of $152,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,920.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 10.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SMPL shares. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Simply Good Foods in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Simply Good Foods from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Simply Good Foods in a report on Monday, April 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of Simply Good Foods in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Simply Good Foods from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Simply Good Foods has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.29.

Simply Good Foods Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SMPL traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 169,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,899. The Simply Good Foods Company has a one year low of $30.00 and a one year high of $43.00. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.12. The company has a current ratio of 5.19, a quick ratio of 4.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Simply Good Foods had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 10.28%. The firm had revenue of $334.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $337.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Simply Good Foods Company will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

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.