Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) Stock Now Rated "Reduce" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts collectively rate Grocery Outlet “Reduce”: Of 14 analysts, 11 recommend holding, two recommend selling and one recommends buying; the average one-year price target is $11.50.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.16, matching forecasts, while revenue of $1.18 billion slightly exceeded expectations. Revenue rose 0.9% year over year, but EPS fell from $0.21 a year earlier.
• Two insiders reported stock purchases: Paul Miller bought 8,000 shares at an average $10.90, and director Carey F. Jaros bought 15,000 shares at $11.70.

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Reduce" from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $11.50.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GO shares. Deutsche Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Thursday, August 13th. 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 research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Activity at Grocery Outlet

In other news, insider Paul Miller purchased 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.90 per share, with a total value of $87,200.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 72,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,663.90. This represents a 12.47% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Carey F. Jaros acquired 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.70 per share, for a total transaction of $175,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 60,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $702,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GO. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 50,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 103.3% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,511 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC lifted its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 7.1% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 19,607 shares of the company's stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Grocery Outlet by 23.4% during the third 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 period. 99.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Grocery Outlet Stock Down 1.6%

GO stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.65. 1,725,461 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,564,084. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.28, a PEG ratio of 8.93 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Grocery Outlet has a 1 year low of $5.66 and a 1 year high of $14.32.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 10th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16. Grocery Outlet had a negative net margin of 7.99% and a positive return on equity of 5.54%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Grocery Outlet will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

About Grocery Outlet

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. operates Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, a discount grocery chain offering brand-name products and private-label items at value-oriented prices. Its stores carry a range of goods, including groceries, fresh produce, meat, dairy, frozen foods and household products. The company uses opportunistic buying to source products, which can result in changing assortments and limited-time deals. Founded in 1946 by Jim Read, Grocery Outlet has grown from a California-based business into a retailer serving communities across the western United States and parts of the East Coast.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.