Short Interest in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) Decreases By 8.2%

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,020,000 shares, a decline of 8.2% from the August 31st total of 10,920,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,960,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days. Approximately 10.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on GO shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Grocery Outlet in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on Grocery Outlet from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Roth Capital upgraded Grocery Outlet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Craig Hallum cut Grocery Outlet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 70,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,340,728.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 70,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,340,728.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 200,095 shares of Grocery Outlet stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 70,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,155,580.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 500,095 shares of company stock worth $8,876,548 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet during the fourth quarter worth about $24,588,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $253,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Grocery Outlet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 42,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet in the 4th quarter worth $330,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,342,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,871,000 after purchasing an additional 199,926 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

Grocery Outlet Stock Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ GO traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $17.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,181,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,750,433. Grocery Outlet has a fifty-two week low of $15.72 and a fifty-two week high of $29.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.82.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.05. Grocery Outlet had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 5.18%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. Grocery Outlet’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Grocery Outlet will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal 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.