Verity Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN)

Verity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 15,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in SpartanNash by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,978,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,528,000 after purchasing an additional 27,667 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in SpartanNash by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 77,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,778,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in SpartanNash by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in SpartanNash by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 61,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 23,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP grew its holdings in SpartanNash by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP now owns 281,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,462,000 after acquiring an additional 47,072 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.59% of the company’s stock.

SpartanNash Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of SPTN stock traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $20.62. 156,905 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 248,388. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.15. The firm has a market cap of $698.81 million, a P/E ratio of 13.30 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.75. SpartanNash has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $24.51.

SpartanNash (NASDAQ:SPTN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. SpartanNash had a net margin of 0.56% and a return on equity of 9.22%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that SpartanNash will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

SpartanNash Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.218 per share. This is an increase from SpartanNash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. SpartanNash’s dividend payout ratio is 56.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on SpartanNash from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st.

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.