Insider Selling: 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.30, for a total transaction of $16,181.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 54,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,064.60. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Grocery Outlet Price Performance

GO traded up $0.44 during 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 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 $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of -3.11, a P/E/G ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.71. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a 1 year low of $5.66 and a 1 year high of $19.23.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 negative net margin of 8.04% and a positive return on equity of 5.84%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Thursday, August 13th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Grocery Outlet from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Grocery Outlet Company 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.