SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on SpartanNash from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 31st.

SpartanNash Stock Performance

SpartanNash stock opened at $21.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $717.45 million, a P/E ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.35 and its 200 day moving average is $19.96. SpartanNash has a twelve month low of $17.74 and a twelve month high of $24.51.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. SpartanNash had a return on equity of 9.22% and a net margin of 0.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that SpartanNash will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SpartanNash Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.218 dividend. This is a positive change from SpartanNash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. SpartanNash’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.13%.

Institutional Trading of SpartanNash

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in SpartanNash in the 2nd quarter worth $317,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in SpartanNash by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 1,768 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in SpartanNash by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 197,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,706,000 after buying an additional 29,849 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in SpartanNash in the 2nd quarter worth $79,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in SpartanNash in the 2nd quarter worth $638,000. 84.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.