The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, a decline of 20.1% from the October 15th total of 5,170,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 853,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Insider Activity at Simply Good Foods

In other news, insider Timothy Richard Kraft sold 21,209 shares of Simply Good Foods stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $774,128.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 40,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,462,482. This trade represents a 34.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Scalzo sold 2,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $86,010.02. Following the sale, the director now owns 136,830 shares in the company, valued at $4,957,350.90. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 251,108 shares of company stock worth $9,253,356. Company insiders own 10.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simply Good Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SMPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Simply Good Foods by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,099,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $377,711,000 after acquiring an additional 174,157 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Simply Good Foods by 20.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,128,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $178,329,000 after purchasing an additional 855,070 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Simply Good Foods by 4.0% during the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,063,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,301,000 after buying an additional 155,894 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Simply Good Foods by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,666,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $127,473,000 after buying an additional 208,070 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,223,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,468,000 after buying an additional 203,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Simply Good Foods from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Simply Good Foods from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.78.

Simply Good Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SMPL traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.71. 893,176 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 864,221. Simply Good Foods has a twelve month low of $30.00 and a twelve month high of $43.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 4.05 and a quick ratio of 2.75. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $34.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.96.

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The company had revenue of $375.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $373.07 million. Simply Good Foods had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 10.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Simply Good Foods will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.