SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Short Interest Update

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 991,000 shares, a growth of 25.5% from the December 15th total of 789,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 274,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SPTN. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 39,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 5,854 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 38,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 8,461 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in SpartanNash by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 744,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,963,000 after buying an additional 123,952 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA bought a new position in SpartanNash in the second quarter valued at $247,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SpartanNash during the 2nd quarter valued at about $353,000. Institutional investors own 84.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of SpartanNash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

SpartanNash Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SPTN traded up $0.06 on Thursday, reaching $18.21. 223,720 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 283,922. SpartanNash has a twelve month low of $17.30 and a twelve month high of $23.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.65 and a 200-day moving average of $20.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $614.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.35.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. SpartanNash’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that SpartanNash will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SpartanNash Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.2175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. SpartanNash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.41%.

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.