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

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $10.00 to $11.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Bank of America raised shares of Grocery Outlet from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $12.50 to $15.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Grocery Outlet from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

Grocery Outlet Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $12.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.65.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Grocery Outlet

In other Grocery Outlet news, insider Paul Miller bought 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 72,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,663.90. This represents a 12.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carey F. Jaros bought 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.70 per share, for a total transaction of $175,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at $702,000. This trade represents a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet during the second quarter worth about $152,440,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 31.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,083,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,639,000 after acquiring an additional 258,292 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Grocery Outlet in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,606,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Grocery Outlet in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,500,000. Finally, Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Grocery Outlet in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,347,000. Institutional investors own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

Grocery Outlet Company Profile

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.