Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Stock Position in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL)

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL - Free Report) by 39.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 302,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 85,400 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.30% of Simply Good Foods worth $11,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SMPL. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new stake in Simply Good Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at $80,270,000. FMR LLC increased its stake 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Simply Good Foods in the third quarter worth $27,391,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Simply Good Foods in the third quarter worth $12,051,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Simply Good Foods by 6.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,666,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $127,473,000 after purchasing an additional 208,070 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.45% of the company's stock.

Simply Good Foods Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of SMPL traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.69. 403,404 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,153,751. The Simply Good Foods Company has a 52 week low of $30.00 and a 52 week high of $40.53. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company's 50 day moving average is $37.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.60. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.65.

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Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.06. Simply Good Foods had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $341.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Simply Good Foods Company will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Simply Good Foods

In related news, insider Timothy Richard Kraft sold 76,761 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.60, for a total transaction of $2,886,213.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 40,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,506,556.80. This trade represents a 65.70 % 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. 9.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on SMPL. Mizuho reduced their target price on Simply Good Foods from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Simply Good Foods from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Simply Good Foods has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.22.

Simply Good Foods 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.