SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 692,900 shares, a drop of 20.9% from the October 31st total of 876,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 244,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SpartanNash

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPTN. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SpartanNash in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $211,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 47,141 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of SpartanNash by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 188,335 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 66,178 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 47,240 shares of the company's stock worth $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 6,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atom Investors LP bought a new position in SpartanNash during the 3rd quarter valued at about $419,000. 84.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of SpartanNash from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th.

SpartanNash Stock Performance

Shares of SpartanNash stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.98. The company had a trading volume of 114,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 249,292. The stock has a market cap of $640.67 million, a PE ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.39. SpartanNash has a 1-year low of $17.74 and a 1-year high of $24.51. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $20.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.32. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. SpartanNash had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 0.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that SpartanNash will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SpartanNash Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.2175 dividend. This represents a $0.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. 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.