Verity Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN)

Verity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of SpartanNash by 58.3% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its position in SpartanNash by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 33,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in SpartanNash by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 77,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of SpartanNash by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 20,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its stake in shares of SpartanNash by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 10,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.59% of the company’s stock.

SpartanNash Price Performance

SPTN stock traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $20.62. 156,905 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 248,388. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.15. The company has a market cap of $698.81 million, a P/E ratio of 13.30 and a beta of 0.41. SpartanNash has a one year low of $17.74 and a one year high of $24.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. SpartanNash had a net margin of 0.56% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that SpartanNash will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

SpartanNash Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.218 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.23%. This is a boost from SpartanNash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. SpartanNash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of SpartanNash from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st.

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.