SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Raised 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.

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 report on Friday, May 31st.

SpartanNash Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of SpartanNash stock opened at $21.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.98. SpartanNash has a 52-week low of $17.74 and a 52-week high of $24.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $734.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 0.39.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. SpartanNash had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 0.48%. The company’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that SpartanNash will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SpartanNash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.218 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. SpartanNash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,123,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,118,000 after buying an additional 20,262 shares during 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 worth $64,488,000 after buying 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 worth $13,963,000 after buying an additional 123,952 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 477,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,960,000 after buying an additional 33,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 7.2% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 364,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,367,000 after buying an additional 24,578 shares during the last quarter. 84.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.