Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $33.19, but opened at $35.45. Simply Good Foods shares last traded at $36.84, with a volume of 222,235 shares changing hands.

The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. Simply Good Foods had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $359.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $354.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SMPL shares. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Simply Good Foods in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Simply Good Foods from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.56.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simply Good Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Simply Good Foods by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,566,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $372,890,000 after acquiring an additional 4,437,372 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Simply Good Foods during the 4th quarter worth $44,006,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 3,031,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,171,000 after purchasing an additional 722,963 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Simply Good Foods by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $138,232,000 after purchasing an additional 674,618 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Simply Good Foods by 109.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,221,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,287,000 after purchasing an additional 637,038 shares during the last quarter. 88.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simply Good Foods Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 4.23 and a quick ratio of 2.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.63.

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.