Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $10.95, but opened at $11.64. Bank of America now has a $15.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $12.50. Grocery Outlet shares last traded at $11.3120, with a volume of 260,373 shares.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on GO. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on Grocery Outlet from $10.00 to $11.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

Insider Transactions at Grocery Outlet

In other Grocery Outlet news, Director Carey F. Jaros acquired 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.70 per share, with a total value of $175,500.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,000. This trade represents a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Miller bought 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.90 per share, for a total transaction of $87,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 72,171 shares in the company, valued at $786,663.90. This represents a 12.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GO. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $784,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet in the 2nd quarter valued at $310,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet during the 2nd quarter valued at $125,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 30,876.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 4,014 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its stake in Grocery Outlet by 118.2% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 30,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 16,411 shares in the last quarter. 99.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Grocery Outlet Stock Performance

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 $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.91 and its 200-day moving average is $9.17.

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

About Grocery Outlet

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.