Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $13.99 and last traded at $13.9640, with a volume of 771,117 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $7.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.50.

Grocery Outlet Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.54, a PEG ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Grocery Outlet

In other news, Director Carey Jaros acquired 15,000 shares of Grocery Outlet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.70 per share, for a total transaction of $175,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,000. This trade represents a 33.33% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Miller bought 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.90 per share, for a total transaction of $87,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 72,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $786,663.90. This trade represents a 12.47% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Grocery Outlet by 2.3% in the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 50,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 103.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC raised its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 19,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 15,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

About Grocery Outlet

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. operates a network of independently operated, extreme-value grocery stores under the Grocery Outlet banner. The company offers a broad assortment of products, including fresh produce, meat, dairy, deli items, frozen foods, packaged groceries, beverages, health and beauty products, household essentials and seasonal merchandise.

Its business model is based on opportunistic purchasing, allowing Grocery Outlet to source branded and private-label products from manufacturers, distributors and other suppliers when they are available through closeouts, surplus inventory, packaging changes, production overruns or other special buying opportunities.