UPDATE: Cantor & Fitzgerald Initiates Buy, $18 PT on Spartan Stores

Cantor & Fitzgerald initiates its coverage on Spartan Stores (NASDAQ: SPTN) with a Buy rating and a price target of $18 on the resilience of the business.

Cantor & Fitzgerald notes, "While we are encouraged by the lack of new competitor store openings and recent improvement in the Michigan employment statistics, the rate of recovery remains slow. In the near-term, we expect inflationary pressures will continue to weigh on volume trends in the retail segment."

SPTN closed at $18.01 a share yesterday.