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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

Separately, Northcoast Research lowered shares of SpartanNash from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

SpartanNash Price Performance

Shares of SPTN stock opened at $20.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $687.79 million, a P/E ratio of -2,037.00 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. SpartanNash has a 12 month low of $17.30 and a 12 month high of $23.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.88.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.09. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that SpartanNash will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

SpartanNash Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from SpartanNash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. SpartanNash’s dividend payout ratio is currently -8,800.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SpartanNash

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in SpartanNash by 3,585.1% during 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 during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of SpartanNash during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of SpartanNash by 167.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 3,735 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new position in shares of SpartanNash in the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of SpartanNash in the 4th quarter worth approximately $132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.