HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) by 12.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,262 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,419 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of SpartanNash worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SpartanNash by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 744,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,963,000 after acquiring an additional 123,952 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SpartanNash during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in SpartanNash by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 328,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,160,000 after acquiring an additional 41,619 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of SpartanNash by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 197,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,706,000 after purchasing an additional 29,849 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in SpartanNash during the second quarter valued at about $638,000. 84.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

SpartanNash Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SPTN opened at $19.40 on Monday. SpartanNash has a 12-month low of $17.74 and a 12-month high of $24.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.21. The company has a market capitalization of $654.85 million, a PE ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.01. SpartanNash had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SpartanNash will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SpartanNash Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.2175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. SpartanNash’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.41%.

SpartanNash 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.