Van Berkom & Associates Inc. Buys 543,535 Shares of Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. $GO

Van Berkom & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,757,022 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 543,535 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Grocery Outlet were worth $60,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 5.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 122,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,713,000 after buying an additional 6,736 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Grocery Outlet by 14.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 357,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,003,000 after buying an additional 44,214 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 58,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $724,000 after acquiring an additional 4,538 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet in the second quarter valued at $361,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Grocery Outlet by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 31,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 6,788 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Grocery Outlet

In other news, EVP Steven K. Wilson sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total transaction of $313,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 116,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,045.19. This represents a 17.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Grocery Outlet Stock Up 1.3%

GO stock opened at $9.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.56. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a 12 month low of $8.96 and a 12 month high of $19.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $923.50 million, a P/E ratio of -188.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.49.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. Grocery Outlet had a negative net margin of 0.10% and a positive return on equity of 5.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $11.00 price target on Grocery Outlet in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Grocery Outlet from $14.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.50.

Grocery Outlet Profile

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.