Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 11,080,000 shares, a growth of 16.4% from the June 15th total of 9,520,000 shares. Approximately 11.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,980,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days.

Grocery Outlet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GO traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $21.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,160,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,626,253. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.73. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.56, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Grocery Outlet has a twelve month low of $19.73 and a twelve month high of $36.54.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Grocery Outlet had a net margin of 1.60% and a return on equity of 5.46%. On average, analysts anticipate that Grocery Outlet will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GO. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Grocery Outlet from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $37.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $27.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $43.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.90.

Insider Transactions at Grocery Outlet

In other news, EVP Luke D. Thompson sold 1,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.43, for a total transaction of $29,876.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $724,623.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Luke D. Thompson sold 1,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.43, for a total value of $29,876.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $724,623.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Erik D. Ragatz acquired 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.91 per share, with a total value of $2,091,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 429,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,986,804.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 12 West Capital Management LP grew its stake in Grocery Outlet by 383.3% during the first quarter. 12 West Capital Management LP now owns 3,625,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,328,000 after purchasing an additional 2,875,000 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Grocery Outlet by 281.4% during 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Grocery Outlet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,588,000. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Grocery Outlet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $16,049,000. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Grocery Outlet by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,373,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,026,000 after acquiring an additional 446,198 shares during the period. 99.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.