Pivotal Research Sticks to Their Sell Rating for SpartanNash Co (SPTN)


In a report released today, Ajay Jain from Pivotal Research reiterated a Sell rating on SpartanNash Co (SPTN), with a price target of $14. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $21.82.

Jain wrote:

“We think a few key things were overlooked in the reaction to SPTN’s 3Q18 results. First, the headline EPS figure benefited from a tax rate of 14.5% which added $0.05 per share. The earnings miss was substantial. Secondly, the latest guidance cut implies an EPS range of $0.34-$0.42 for 4Q18 (compared to the consensus figure of $0.46 prior to the print). With Fresh Kitchen still losing well in excess of $1 million quarterly, the setup is still unfavorable heading into FY19. We estimate that excluding the $0.06 per share of costs that were specific to the product recalls over the summer, operational issues at Caito/Fresh Kitchen are going to cost SPTN around $10-$12 million pre-tax ($0.28-$0.34 per share equivalent) in 2018. The reaction to the latest results reminds us of the 40% pop in SPTN’s share price following the 1Q18 results in May. At the time, mgt.”

According to TipRanks.com, Jain is a 4-star analyst with an average return of 9.5% and a 56.1% success rate. Jain covers the Services sector, focusing on stocks such as Walgreens Boots Alliance, Performance Food Group, and US Food Holdings Corp.

SpartanNash Co has an analyst consensus of Moderate Sell, with a price target consensus of $18.50.

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The company has a one-year high of $27.72 and a one-year low of $16.32. Currently, SpartanNash Co has an average volume of 156.2K.

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SpartanNash Co. engages in the distribution of grocery products to military commissaries in the U.S. It operates through the following segments: Military, Food Distribution, and Retail. The Military segment sells and distributes grocery products primarily to U.S. military commissaries and exchanges.

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