Insider Buying: Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Director Purchases $175,500.00 in Stock

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) Director Carey Jaros acquired 15,000 shares of Grocery Outlet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.70 per share, with a total value of $175,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Grocery Outlet Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of GO stock opened at $12.01 on Thursday. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $5.66 and a fifty-two week high of $18.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.10, a PEG ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $10.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Grocery Outlet had a negative net margin of 8.04% and a positive return on equity of 5.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Grocery Outlet from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $10.00 to $11.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $7.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Grocery Outlet from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Grocery Outlet presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.59.

Institutional Trading of Grocery Outlet

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,763,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,216,000 after acquiring an additional 5,528,722 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet during the 2nd quarter worth about $152,440,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,255,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,685,000 after purchasing an additional 213,325 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Grocery Outlet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,709,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,757,000 after purchasing an additional 22,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Grocery Outlet by 5.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,619,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,149,000 after purchasing an additional 221,693 shares during the last quarter. 99.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Grocery Outlet Company Profile

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: GO) is a specialty discount retailer that offers consumers deeply discounted groceries by purchasing excess inventory, closeouts, and overstocks from manufacturers and distributors. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, the company operates two primary banners—Grocery Outlet and Fresh2Go—with a combined footprint of more than 400 stores. Its product assortment spans fresh produce, meat, dairy, bakery items, household staples, natural and organic offerings, and select specialty products, all sold at significant markdowns compared to conventional supermarkets.

The company’s unique buying model enables it to source inventory through opportunistic purchases of surplus freight, discontinued items, and closeout deals, which it then passes on as savings to its customers.