Erik D. Ragatz Purchases 19,000 Shares of Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) Stock

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) Director Erik D. Ragatz acquired 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.46 per share, for a total transaction of $274,740.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $274,740. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Grocery Outlet Trading Up 1.8%

GO stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $14.22. The company had a trading volume of 3,161,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,406,177. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 9.08 and a beta of 0.42. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a 52-week low of $10.26 and a 52-week high of $23.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. Grocery Outlet had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 5.25%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.09 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GO. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Grocery Outlet from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Grocery Outlet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $12.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Grocery Outlet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $18.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.62.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,717,454 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,830,000 after purchasing an additional 582,822 shares during the period. FPR Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. FPR Partners LLC now owns 5,991,474 shares of the company's stock worth $93,527,000 after buying an additional 791,474 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,833,955 shares of the company's stock worth $59,845,000 after buying an additional 35,938 shares during the period. Simcoe Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,185,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 1,577.2% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,262,956 shares of the company's stock worth $45,617,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068,405 shares in the last quarter. 99.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.