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 during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,660,000 shares, a growth of 14.2% from the October 15th total of 10,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.7 days. Approximately 12.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Grocery Outlet news, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 200,095 shares of Grocery Outlet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.29, for a total transaction of $3,259,547.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,155,580.02. The trade was a 73.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet during the third quarter valued at $2,507,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 677.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,981,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726,741 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 505.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 51,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 43,358 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Grocery Outlet in the first quarter worth about $217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GO shares. TD Cowen lowered shares of Grocery Outlet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America lowered shares of Grocery Outlet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Craig Hallum dropped their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Grocery Outlet currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Grocery Outlet Stock Down 1.6 %

GO stock opened at $17.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Grocery Outlet has a 1-year low of $13.60 and a 1-year high of $29.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.26. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.13.

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