Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,065,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 28,876 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.06% of Simply Good Foods worth $36,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new stake in Simply Good Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $80,270,000. Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simply Good Foods in the second quarter valued at $34,582,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 20.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,128,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $178,329,000 after acquiring an additional 855,070 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Simply Good Foods during the third quarter valued at $27,391,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Simply Good Foods by 107.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 920,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,269,000 after purchasing an additional 475,928 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Simply Good Foods from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of 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 lowered their target price on shares of Simply Good Foods from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.22.

Simply Good Foods Trading Down 0.5 %

SMPL stock traded down $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $38.85. 809,828 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 886,402. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.67. The business's fifty day moving average is $36.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.31. The Simply Good Foods Company 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.

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50. Simply Good Foods had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 10.46%. The business had revenue of $375.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Simply Good Foods Company will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Timothy Richard Kraft sold 21,209 shares of Simply Good Foods stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $774,128.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 40,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,462,482. The trade was a 34.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Scalzo sold 2,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $86,010.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 136,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,957,350.90. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 327,869 shares of company stock valued at $12,139,570 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.98% of the company's stock.

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.