Short Interest in SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Grows By 17.7%

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,330,000 shares, an increase of 17.7% from the April 30th total of 1,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 276,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.8 days. Currently, 4.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on SPTN shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded SpartanNash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Northcoast Research cut shares of SpartanNash from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

SpartanNash Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SPTN opened at $18.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $622.91 million, a PE ratio of -1,840.00 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.78. SpartanNash has a 12 month low of $17.30 and a 12 month high of $23.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.23.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SpartanNash will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

SpartanNash Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. SpartanNash’s dividend payout ratio is presently -275.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SpartanNash

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in SpartanNash during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in SpartanNash by 167.4% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 3,735 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new position in SpartanNash in the 4th quarter valued at about $113,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in SpartanNash in the 4th quarter valued at about $132,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in SpartanNash in the first quarter valued at about $153,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.59% of the company’s stock.

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.