The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,065,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,876 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Simply Good Foods were worth $36,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SMPL. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Simply Good Foods in the third quarter valued at $27,391,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Simply Good Foods by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 187,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,521,000 after buying an additional 32,561 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 65.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 41,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after acquiring an additional 16,268 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position 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 worth $178,329,000 after acquiring an additional 855,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Simply Good Foods in the third quarter worth about $2,368,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Simply Good Foods

In other news, Director Joseph Scalzo sold 147,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.86, for a total transaction of $5,425,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 141,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,213,441.54. The trade was a 51.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian K. Ratzan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.38, for a total transaction of $1,869,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,049,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,606,086.06. This trade represents a 2.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 327,869 shares of company stock worth $12,139,570. 10.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Simply Good Foods Stock Down 1.7 %

SMPL stock opened at $39.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.67. The Simply Good Foods Company has a 1-year low of $30.00 and a 1-year high of $43.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.28. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. Simply Good Foods had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The business had revenue of $375.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Simply Good Foods Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SMPL. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Simply Good Foods from $46.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stephens dropped their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Simply Good Foods from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.22.

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.