Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Takes $7.56 Million Position in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL)

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 217,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,562,000. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.22% of Simply Good Foods as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SMPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Simply Good Foods by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,099,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $377,711,000 after purchasing an additional 174,157 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Simply Good Foods by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,939,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,061,000 after acquiring an additional 854,550 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Simply Good Foods by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,223,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,468,000 after acquiring an additional 203,914 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 14.3% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,474,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,282,000 after buying an additional 184,539 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Simply Good Foods during the second quarter valued at about $34,582,000. 88.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SMPL shares. 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. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Simply Good Foods from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Simply Good Foods in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simply Good Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.50.

Simply Good Foods Price Performance

NASDAQ SMPL opened at $33.33 on Friday. The Simply Good Foods Company has a 1-year low of $30.00 and a 1-year high of $43.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 5.19 and a quick ratio of 4.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.73.

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $375.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.07 million. Simply Good Foods had a return on equity of 10.28% and a net margin of 11.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Simply Good Foods Company will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stuart E. Jr. Heflin sold 1,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.44, for a total value of $36,437.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $665,346.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 10.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Simply Good Foods

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.