SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Short Interest Up 21.8% in February

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, a growth of 21.8% from the January 31st total of 919,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 284,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Northcoast Research cut shares of SpartanNash from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of SpartanNash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SpartanNash

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of SpartanNash by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of SpartanNash by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in shares of SpartanNash by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 30,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,882 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of SpartanNash by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 29,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,000 after acquiring an additional 3,650 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of SpartanNash by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 3,851 shares during the period. 84.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SpartanNash Price Performance

SPTN opened at $19.53 on Thursday. SpartanNash has a one year low of $17.30 and a one year high of $23.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $659.43 million, a P/E ratio of -1,953.00 and a beta of 0.34.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.09. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SpartanNash will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.