Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Shares Climb 4.4% – Still a Buy?

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO)’s stock price was up 4.4% on Monday. The company traded as high as $11.54 and last traded at $11.5530. 179,787 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 3,029,325 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Grocery Outlet from $7.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $9.00 target price on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Grocery Outlet from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Grocery Outlet from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.59.

Grocery Outlet Trading Up 0.5%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of -2.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 0.72.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.07. Grocery Outlet had a positive return on equity of 5.84% and a negative net margin of 8.04%.The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Grocery Outlet

In related news, Director Carey Jaros acquired 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.70 per share, for a total transaction of $175,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Miller purchased 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.90 per share, for a total transaction of $87,200.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 72,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $786,663.90. This trade represents a 12.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 31.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,083,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,639,000 after acquiring an additional 258,292 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its stake in Grocery Outlet by 262.2% during the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 645,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,516,000 after acquiring an additional 467,019 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Grocery Outlet during the 2nd quarter worth $152,440,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,816,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,449,000 after purchasing an additional 173,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 217.0% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 429,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,031,000 after purchasing an additional 294,280 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

Grocery Outlet Company Profile

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. operates a network of independently operated, extreme-value grocery stores in the United States. The company offers a rotating selection of branded and private-label products at discounted prices, including groceries, fresh produce, meat, dairy, frozen foods, beverages, snacks, household goods and health and beauty products.

Its merchandising model is based on opportunistic buying, allowing Grocery Outlet to purchase surplus inventory, packaging changes, discontinued products and other bargains from manufacturers and distributors.