Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Insider Sells 1,432 Shares of Stock

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) insider Frank Michael Kerr sold 1,432 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.30, for a total value of $16,181.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 54,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,064.60. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Grocery Outlet Stock Performance

GO traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $12.04. 2,207,201 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,148,886. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.90 and its 200 day moving average is $8.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of -3.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 0.65. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a 52 week low of $5.66 and a 52 week high of $19.23.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Grocery Outlet had a negative net margin of 8.04% and a positive return on equity of 5.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Grocery Outlet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet in the second quarter valued at about $152,440,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,763,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,216,000 after purchasing an additional 5,528,722 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Grocery Outlet by 3,558.0% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,825,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775,505 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Grocery Outlet by 87.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,726,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,536,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272,859 shares during the period. Finally, Solas Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Grocery Outlet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,368,000. Institutional investors own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GO shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Grocery Outlet from $10.00 to $11.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Grocery Outlet from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Grocery Outlet from $7.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Grocery Outlet from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.59.

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.