Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Telsey Advisory Group downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to a market perform rating. The stock had previously closed at $16.61, but opened at $15.79. Telsey Advisory Group now has a $19.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $27.00. Grocery Outlet shares last traded at $15.26, with a volume of 229,952 shares changing hands.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on GO. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $27.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Roth Capital raised shares of Grocery Outlet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered Grocery Outlet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 200,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.29, for a total transaction of $3,259,547.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 70,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,580.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $1,890,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 70,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,340,728.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 200,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.29, for a total value of $3,259,547.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 70,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,580.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 500,095 shares of company stock valued at $8,876,548 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Grocery Outlet by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,333,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,628,000 after buying an additional 60,830 shares during the last quarter. 12 West Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 383.3% during the 1st quarter. 12 West Capital Management LP now owns 3,625,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,328,000 after acquiring an additional 2,875,000 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,613,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,933,000 after purchasing an additional 655,065 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 281.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,579,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 21.1% during the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,498,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,388,000 after acquiring an additional 609,871 shares during the period. 99.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Grocery Outlet Trading Up 2.9 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Grocery Outlet had a return on equity of 5.18% and a net margin of 1.30%. The company’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Grocery Outlet Company Profile

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. operates as a retailer of consumables and fresh products sold through independently operated stores in the United States. Its stores offer products in various categories, such as dairy and deli, produce, floral, fresh meat, seafood products, grocery, general merchandise, health and beauty care, frozen food, beer and wine, and ethnic products.