Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $28.45 Million Stock Position in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. $GO

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,816,721 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 173,308 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Grocery Outlet were worth $28,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Grocery Outlet by 591.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,739 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 62.7% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 96.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 7,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 3,880 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 427.0% in the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 9,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 7,669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shay Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $160,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum downgraded Grocery Outlet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group downgraded Grocery Outlet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $9.00 in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Grocery Outlet from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.32.

Grocery Outlet Price Performance

GO opened at $8.87 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $877.42 million, a PE ratio of -2.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.83. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a 1-year low of $5.66 and a 1-year high of $19.41.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Grocery Outlet had a positive return on equity of 5.69% and a negative net margin of 8.08%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. Grocery Outlet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.450-0.550 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Steven K. Wilson sold 4,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.06, for a total value of $28,609.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 120,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $728,236.26. This trade represents a 3.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Erik D. Ragatz purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.09 per share, with a total value of $609,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 426,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,597,385. This represents a 30.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought 598,905 shares of company stock worth $3,594,147 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

About Grocery Outlet

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: GO) is a specialty discount retailer that offers consumers deeply discounted groceries by purchasing excess inventory, closeouts, and overstocks from manufacturers and distributors. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, the company operates two primary banners—Grocery Outlet and Fresh2Go—with a combined footprint of more than 400 stores. Its product assortment spans fresh produce, meat, dairy, bakery items, household staples, natural and organic offerings, and select specialty products, all sold at significant markdowns compared to conventional supermarkets.

The company’s unique buying model enables it to source inventory through opportunistic purchases of surplus freight, discontinued items, and closeout deals, which it then passes on as savings to its customers.