Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.80 Million in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 45,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,798,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 0.5% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,961,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,882,000 after acquiring an additional 60,072 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 2.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,992,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,461,000 after acquiring an additional 259,144 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 8.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,770,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $218,990,000 after acquiring an additional 446,000 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,106,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,136,000 after acquiring an additional 559,980 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 3.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,037,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,138,000 after acquiring an additional 95,130 shares during the period. 88.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simply Good Foods Stock Down 1.0 %

SMPL stock opened at $32.41 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.69. The Simply Good Foods Company has a 12 month low of $30.00 and a 12 month high of $43.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.20 and a quick ratio of 3.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Simply Good Foods from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $42.00 target price (up from $41.00) on shares of Simply Good Foods in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Simply Good Foods from $48.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Simply Good Foods in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Simply Good Foods in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Simply Good Foods currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert G. Montgomery sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.36, for a total value of $98,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 52,738 shares in the company, valued at $2,075,767.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 10.98% 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.