Shares of Supervalu Inc. - the third-largest U.S. grocery chain that operates 10 Save-A-Lot stores in the Miami Valley - sank as much as one-third this morning after the company announced Wednesday that it would suspend its dividend and will review strategic alternatives for the business.

Supervalu (SVU) sank about 33 percent to $3.55 before rebounding slightly to $3.65 this morning. The Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based company's shares had fallen 35 percent this year through Wednesday, putting it on course for a fifth straight annual drop, according to BusinessWeek.com.

The company announced in May that it would close its distribution center in Xenia after 51 years of operation, eliminating 120 jobs. Supervalu officials said it had excess capacity at its large distribution center in Fort Wayne, Ind. The company said the consolidation would be completed in September.

Supervalu's Save-A-Lot stores are located in Dayton, Fairborn, Springfield, Middletown, Franklin and Lebanon. The company operates 69 Cub Foods stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, but the three Cub Foods stores in the Dayton area are not owned by Supervalu; they are operated under a franchise agreement with the company.

Company officials also announced layoffs last month of 2,200 to 2,500 employees in its Albertsons grocery-store unit in California and Nevada. The company, which employs about 130,000 nationwide, plans to accelerate price reductions and cut costs by an additional $250 million over the next two years, it said in a statement Wednesday. It has retained Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Greenhill & Co. to review its options, company officials said.

Supervalu hasn't turned an annual net profit in three years amid competition from Wal-Mart Stores and Kroger Co., according to BusinessWeek.com. The company on Wednesday announced results for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 that ended June 16, reporting net sales of $10.6 billion and net earnings of $41 million, or 19 cents per diluted share.

"While our shift to a fair price plus promotion strategy is right for our business, it is essential that we move even more aggressively to lower prices, and anticipate and respond to competitor actions. We expect our business transformation to meet our customers' demands for great quality at lower prices," said Craig Herkert, chief executive officer and president. "We intend to do this while remaining profitable, continuing to pay down debt and investing the capital to maintain and enhance our stores and related assets. Accordingly, we will be pursuing deeper and more structural cost savings initiatives. Also, we are adopting more flexible financing facilities, reducing our near-term capital expenditures and suspending our dividend."