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

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

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on SPTN. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of SpartanNash from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 10th. TheStreet lowered shares of SpartanNash from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $26.00.

SpartanNash Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ SPTN opened at $22.04 on Friday. SpartanNash has a 52-week low of $20.51 and a 52-week high of $34.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.41. The stock has a market cap of $763.02 million, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.64.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 8th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. SpartanNash had a return on equity of 9.66% and a net margin of 0.43%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SpartanNash will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

SpartanNash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. SpartanNash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SPTN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of SpartanNash by 141.6% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 967,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,992,000 after purchasing an additional 566,957 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in SpartanNash by 9.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,990,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,649,000 after acquiring an additional 263,582 shares during the period. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP bought a new stake in SpartanNash in the third quarter worth about $5,159,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in SpartanNash by 142.9% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 383,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,569,000 after acquiring an additional 225,579 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its position in SpartanNash by 1,228.0% in the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 217,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,393,000 after acquiring an additional 201,091 shares during the period. 81.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About SpartanNash

SpartanNash Company distributes and retails grocery products. It operates through Wholesale and Retail segments. The Wholesale segment offers grocery products and perishable food products, such as 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 pharmacy products to independent retailers, national accounts, food service distributors, e-commerce providers, and corporate owned retail stores.