SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Short Interest Update

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 692,900 shares, a decrease of 20.9% from the October 31st total of 876,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 244,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered SpartanNash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th.

SpartanNash Stock Up 0.4 %

SPTN traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $18.98. 114,458 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 249,292. SpartanNash has a 12 month low of $17.74 and a 12 month high of $24.51. The company has a market cap of $640.67 million, a PE ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.61 and its 200-day moving average is $20.31.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. SpartanNash had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 0.48%. SpartanNash’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that SpartanNash will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SpartanNash Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.2175 per share. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. SpartanNash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SpartanNash

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SPTN. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SpartanNash in the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of SpartanNash by 120.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,936,000 after purchasing an additional 47,141 shares during the last quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC grew its position in shares of SpartanNash by 54.2% in the third quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 188,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 66,178 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of SpartanNash by 14.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 47,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 6,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atom Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of SpartanNash in the third quarter valued at approximately $419,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.59% of the company’s stock.

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.