SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Short Interest Update

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) saw a large 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 trading volume of 274,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of SpartanNash by 3,585.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in SpartanNash during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in SpartanNash by 64.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 64.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 1,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in SpartanNash in the 2nd quarter worth about $79,000. 84.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

SpartanNash Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SPTN traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $18.01. 190,955 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 300,641. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $18.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.08. SpartanNash has a 1-year low of $17.30 and a 1-year high of $23.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $608.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 0.35.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SpartanNash will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SpartanNash Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.2175 per share. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. SpartanNash’s payout ratio is currently 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.