SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• SpartanNash reached a new 52-week high of $26.70, with a last trading price of $26.60 on Monday, reflecting increased investor interest with over 1.4 million shares traded.
• Recent analyst ratings indicate a downgrade from "buy" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen, while BMO Capital Markets set a target price of $26.90, up from $20.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22, translating to an annualized yield of 3.3%, although it reported a negative net margin of 0.16% for the quarter.

SpartanNash Company (NASDAQ:SPTN - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The company traded as high as $26.70 and last traded at $26.60, with a volume of 1439690 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.52.

SPTN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $26.90 target price (up previously from $20.00) on shares of SpartanNash in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered SpartanNash from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.45.

Institutional Trading of SpartanNash

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of SpartanNash in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in SpartanNash by 246.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in SpartanNash in the second quarter valued at $72,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in SpartanNash by 264.7% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 2,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in SpartanNash by 79.1% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,171 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. 84.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SpartanNash Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $902.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.56 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.70.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.04. SpartanNash had a positive return on equity of 8.19% and a negative net margin of 0.16%.The company had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. SpartanNash's quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that SpartanNash Company will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

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.