StockNews.com Upgrades SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of SpartanNash from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st.

SpartanNash Trading Down 0.5 %

SPTN opened at $21.82 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $20.79 and its 200-day moving average is $19.96. SpartanNash has a 1-year low of $17.74 and a 1-year high of $24.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $739.52 million, a P/E ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 0.39.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. SpartanNash had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 8.87%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that SpartanNash will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SpartanNash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.218 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. SpartanNash’s payout ratio is 56.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPTN. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in SpartanNash by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 744,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,963,000 after purchasing an additional 123,952 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in SpartanNash by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 183,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,204,000 after purchasing an additional 41,832 shares during the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in SpartanNash by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 328,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,160,000 after purchasing an additional 41,619 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in SpartanNash during the 1st quarter worth approximately $789,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC raised its holdings in SpartanNash by 31.5% during the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 160,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,007,000 after purchasing an additional 38,425 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.59% of the company’s stock.

About SpartanNash

SpartanNash Company distributes and retails grocery products in the United States of America. It operates through Wholesale and Retail segments. The Wholesale segment offers grocery products and perishable food products, including dry groceries, produce, dairy products, meat, delicatessen items, bakery goods, frozen food, seafood, floral products, general merchandise, beverages, tobacco products, health and beauty care, and pharmaceutical products to independent retailers, national accounts, food service distributors, e-commerce providers, and corporate owned retail stores.