SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Short Interest Down 20.9% in November

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 692,900 shares, a decrease of 20.9% from the October 31st total of 876,100 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 244,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SpartanNash

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $13,963,000 after acquiring an additional 123,952 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SpartanNash in the 3rd quarter worth $1,802,000. Dean Investment Associates LLC grew its position in shares of SpartanNash by 54.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of SpartanNash by 120.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,936,000 after buying an additional 47,141 shares during the period. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 14.5% in the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 328,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,160,000 after acquiring an additional 41,619 shares in the last quarter. 84.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SpartanNash Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ SPTN opened at $18.91 on Friday. SpartanNash has a 1 year low of $17.74 and a 1 year high of $24.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.32. The company has a market cap of $638.40 million, a P/E ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.01. SpartanNash had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 0.48%. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. SpartanNash’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that SpartanNash will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

SpartanNash Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.2175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. SpartanNash’s payout ratio is 65.41%.

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.