SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 report on Friday, May 31st.

SpartanNash Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SPTN stock opened at $21.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $743.59 million, a PE ratio of 14.15 and a beta of 0.39. SpartanNash has a 1 year low of $17.74 and a 1 year high of $24.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.03. SpartanNash had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 0.48%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. SpartanNash’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that SpartanNash will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SPTN. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in SpartanNash by 20.0% during 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. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of SpartanNash by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 183,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,204,000 after acquiring an additional 41,832 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SpartanNash by 14.5% in the second 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. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SpartanNash in the first quarter valued at approximately $789,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC grew its stake in SpartanNash by 31.5% in the second quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 160,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,007,000 after purchasing an additional 38,425 shares in the last quarter. 84.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.