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The Insider Monkey team has completed processing the quarterly 13F filings for the March quarter submitted by the hedge funds and other money managers included in our extensive database. Most hedge fund investors experienced strong gains on the back of a strong market performance, which certainly propelled them to adjust their equity holdings so as to maintain the desired risk profile. As a result, the relevancy of these public filings and their content is indisputable, as they may reveal numerous high-potential stocks. The following article will discuss the smart money sentiment towards SpartanNash Company (NASDAQ:SPTN).

SpartanNash Company (NASDAQ:SPTN) shares haven't seen a lot of action during the first quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 16 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2019. At the end of this article we will also compare SPTN to other stocks including Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (OTC:FMCB), Nexgen Energy Ltd. (NYSE:NXE), and BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE:BPT) to get a better sense of its popularity.

To the average investor there are plenty of tools stock traders put to use to appraise their holdings. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outperform the broader indices by a superb amount (see the details here).

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Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management[/caption]

We're going to go over the fresh hedge fund action regarding SpartanNash Company (NASDAQ:SPTN).

What does smart money think about SpartanNash Company (NASDAQ:SPTN)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 16 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 0% from the fourth quarter of 2018. On the other hand, there were a total of 13 hedge funds with a bullish position in SPTN a year ago. With hedgies' sentiment swirling, there exists an "upper tier" of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

The largest stake in SpartanNash Company (NASDAQ:SPTN) was held by Private Capital Management, which reported holding $18.9 million worth of stock at the end of March. It was followed by AQR Capital Management with a $5.9 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Arrowstreet Capital, Millennium Management, and Renaissance Technologies.