SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

SpartanNash Trading Down 1.2 %

SPTN stock opened at $18.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $615.44 million, a P/E ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. SpartanNash has a 52-week low of $17.30 and a 52-week high of $23.00.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last posted 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. SpartanNash had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SpartanNash will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SpartanNash Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.2175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.77%. SpartanNash’s payout ratio is presently 65.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in SpartanNash by 120.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,936,000 after purchasing an additional 47,141 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 6,058 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in SpartanNash by 71.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,297,000 after buying an additional 42,719 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SpartanNash during the third quarter valued at about $244,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of SpartanNash by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 20,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 3,356 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.