Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage on Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL)

Research analysts at Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL) in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating and a $36.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 9.09% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Mizuho cut their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Simply Good Foods currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.56.

Simply Good Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Simply Good Foods stock opened at $33.00 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.24. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.65. Simply Good Foods has a one year low of $30.00 and a one year high of $40.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a current ratio of 4.23.

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.06. Simply Good Foods had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 10.25%. The company had revenue of $341.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $347.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Simply Good Foods will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Simply Good Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Simply Good Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Simply Good Foods by 72.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 64.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Simply Good Foods by 255.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simply Good Foods by 215.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.45% of the company’s stock.

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.