What Does SpartanNash's Debt Look Like?

Over the past three months, shares of SpartanNash SPTN decreased by 4.70%. Before having a look at the importance of debt, let us look at how much debt SpartanNash has.

SpartanNash's Debt

Based on SpartanNash's balance sheet as of June 3, 2021, long-term debt is at $522.07 million and current debt is at $5.00 million, amounting to $527.06 million in total debt. Adjusted for $23.29 million in cash-equivalents, the company's net debt is at $503.77 million.

Let's define some of the terms we used in the paragraph above. Current debt is the portion of a company's debt which is due within 1 year, while long-term debt is the portion due in more than 1 year. Cash equivalents include cash and any liquid securities with maturity periods of 90 days or less. Total debt equals current debt plus long-term debt minus cash equivalents.

Shareholders look at the debt-ratio to understand how much financial leverage a company has. SpartanNash has $2.28 billion in total assets, therefore making the debt-ratio 0.23. As a rule of thumb, a debt-ratio more than one indicates that a considerable portion of debt is funded by assets. A higher debt-ratio can also imply that the company might be putting itself at risk for default, if interest rates were to increase. However, debt-ratios vary widely across different industries. A debt ratio of 35% might be higher for one industry and normal for another.

Why Shareholders Look At Debt?

Debt is an important factor in the capital structure of a company, and can help it attain growth. Debt usually has a relatively lower financing cost than equity, which makes it an attractive option for executives.

However, interest-payment obligations can have an adverse impact on the cash-flow of the company. Equity owners can keep excess profit, generated from the debt capital, when companies use the debt capital for its business operations.

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