Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) Short Interest Update

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) was the target of a significant 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 daily trading volume, of 1,960,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days. Approximately 10.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Grocery Outlet Stock Performance

Shares of GO traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $17.34. 1,181,706 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,752,064. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $18.19 and its 200 day moving average is $21.82. Grocery Outlet has a 1-year low of $15.72 and a 1-year high of $29.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.10.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GO. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $27.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Roth Capital raised Grocery Outlet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered shares of Grocery Outlet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Grocery Outlet 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 owns 70,938 shares in the company, valued at $1,340,728.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 200,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 100,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,890,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 70,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,340,728.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 500,095 shares of company stock worth $8,876,548. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 161.1% in the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 93,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,682,000 after acquiring an additional 57,496 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Grocery Outlet by 2.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Grocery Outlet by 281.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,579,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641,016 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 261.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 57,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 41,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,273,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,001,000 after buying an additional 101,056 shares in the last quarter. 99.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Grocery Outlet

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.