SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Short Interest Update

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 829,100 shares, an increase of 19.7% from the November 15th total of 692,900 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 243,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

SpartanNash Price Performance

Shares of SpartanNash stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $19.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 206,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 223,099. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.62. SpartanNash has a 12-month low of $17.74 and a 12-month high of $24.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.21. The company has a market cap of $662.37 million, a PE ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 0.35.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. SpartanNash had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Analysts expect that SpartanNash will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SpartanNash Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.2175 per share. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. SpartanNash’s payout ratio is presently 65.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Trading of SpartanNash

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPTN. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in SpartanNash in the third quarter worth $211,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of SpartanNash by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,936,000 after buying an additional 47,141 shares in the last quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 188,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,221,000 after buying an additional 66,178 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 47,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after acquiring an additional 6,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atom Investors LP purchased a new position in SpartanNash in the third quarter worth about $419,000. 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.