Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Shares Gap Up After Insider Buying Activity

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $27.86, but opened at $28.73. Grocery Outlet shares last traded at $28.76, with a volume of 136,736 shares.

Specifically, Director Thomas F. Herman sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $29,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $301,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Thomas F. Herman sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $29,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $301,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrea Renee Bortner sold 4,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $108,268.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,298,279.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 506,588 shares of company stock valued at $13,367,577. 6.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Grocery Outlet from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on Grocery Outlet from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Grocery Outlet from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised Grocery Outlet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Grocery Outlet presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.44.

Grocery Outlet Stock Down 0.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.42. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.08.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. Grocery Outlet had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 2.00%. The firm had revenue of $989.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $982.44 million. As a group, analysts expect that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GO. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 58.1% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV bought a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 248.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet in the first quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 78.7% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

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.