Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,250,000 shares, a growth of 15.6% from the December 15th total of 8,000,000 shares. Currently, 10.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on GO. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Grocery Outlet from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Melius Research assumed coverage on Grocery Outlet in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $21.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Grocery Outlet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $25.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Grocery Outlet

In related news, Director Erik D. Ragatz purchased 110,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.25 per share, for a total transaction of $2,007,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 539,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,851,076.25. This represents a 25.59 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Choreo LLC bought a new position in Grocery Outlet in the second quarter worth approximately $258,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 889.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,010,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,359,000 after buying an additional 908,680 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 8,494 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 22.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,613,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,933,000 after buying an additional 655,065 shares during the period. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet in the second quarter valued at about $236,000. 99.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Grocery Outlet Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ GO traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.95. 1,224,135 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,304,697. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.96. Grocery Outlet has a 12 month low of $13.60 and a 12 month high of $29.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. Grocery Outlet had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 5.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Grocery Outlet will post 0.63 earnings per share 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.