Cerity Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Simply Good Foods Company (NASDAQ:SMPL) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,346 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Simply Good Foods were worth $895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Simply Good Foods in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Simply Good Foods by 72.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Simply Good Foods by 255.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Simply Good Foods by 215.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Simply Good Foods by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 88.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simply Good Foods Stock Up 2.2 %

SMPL opened at $37.31 on Friday. The Simply Good Foods Company has a 52 week low of $31.25 and a 52 week high of $40.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.41. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.63.

Simply Good Foods (NASDAQ:SMPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $359.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $354.50 million. Simply Good Foods had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 10.25%. Simply Good Foods’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Simply Good Foods Company will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Simply Good Foods

In other news, SVP Stuart E. Jr. Heflin sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total value of $186,250.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $478,252.75. This represents a 28.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 9.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SMPL shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Simply Good Foods from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Simply Good Foods from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Simply Good Foods from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.22.

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.