SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Short Interest Update

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 829,100 shares, an increase of 19.7% from the November 15th total of 692,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 243,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of SpartanNash

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. 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 valued at $13,963,000 after buying an additional 123,952 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of SpartanNash in the third quarter worth $1,802,000. Dean Investment Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 54.2% in the third quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 188,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,221,000 after acquiring an additional 66,178 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of SpartanNash by 120.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,936,000 after purchasing an additional 47,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of SpartanNash by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 328,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,160,000 after purchasing an additional 41,619 shares during the period. 84.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SpartanNash Stock Performance

SpartanNash stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.62. The stock had a trading volume of 206,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 249,305. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $20.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.21. SpartanNash has a 1 year low of $17.74 and a 1 year high of $24.51. The stock has a market cap of $662.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 0.35.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 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 the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that SpartanNash will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

SpartanNash Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.2175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.87 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. SpartanNash’s payout ratio is 65.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.