SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Separately, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on SpartanNash from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st.

SpartanNash Stock Performance

SPTN stock opened at $22.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $745.32 million, a P/E ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.92. SpartanNash has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $24.51.

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

Institutional Trading of SpartanNash

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SPTN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,123,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,118,000 after buying an additional 20,262 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,809,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,488,000 after purchasing an additional 11,683 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 20.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 744,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,963,000 after purchasing an additional 123,952 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of SpartanNash by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 477,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,960,000 after purchasing an additional 33,550 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in SpartanNash by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 364,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,367,000 after purchasing an additional 24,578 shares in the last quarter. 84.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SpartanNash Company Profile

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.