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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Grocery Outlet

In other news, Director Erik D. Ragatz bought 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.25 per share, with a total value of $2,007,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 539,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,851,076.25. This trade represents a 25.59 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 76.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 722 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Grocery Outlet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Grocery Outlet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum reduced their target price on Grocery Outlet from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Melius Research started coverage on Grocery Outlet in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Grocery Outlet from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Grocery Outlet Stock Down 0.3 %

GO stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $15.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,224,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,304,697. Grocery Outlet has a 52 week low of $13.60 and a 52 week high of $29.19. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.96.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict 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.