Solas Capital Management LLC Makes New $13.74 Million Investment in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. $GO

Key Points

• Solas Capital Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp., with 982,515 shares valued at approximately $13.7 million, making it the firm's 3rd largest holding.
• Several other hedge funds, including US Bancorp DE and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their positions in Grocery Outlet, with institutional investors owning 99.87% of the stock.
• Grocery Outlet reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.23 for the last quarter, beating estimates, and has set guidance for FY 2025 at 0.750-0.800 EPS.

Solas Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 982,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,736,000. Grocery Outlet accounts for about 7.7% of Solas Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Solas Capital Management LLC owned about 1.00% of Grocery Outlet as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Simcoe Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,185,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet during the first quarter worth $43,509,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 1,577.2% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,262,956 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,617,000 after acquiring an additional 3,068,405 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,128,000. Finally, FPR Partners LLC boosted its stake in Grocery Outlet by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. FPR Partners LLC now owns 5,991,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,527,000 after acquiring an additional 791,474 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.87% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Grocery Outlet from $14.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Craig Hallum upgraded Grocery Outlet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Grocery Outlet from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Grocery Outlet news, EVP Steven K. Wilson sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.20, for a total value of $384,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 146,923 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,921.60. This represents a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Grocery Outlet Stock Down 2.6%

Grocery Outlet stock traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $18.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,975,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,922,071. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.32. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $10.26 and a fifty-two week high of $21.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm's fifty day moving average is $15.32 and its 200-day moving average is $14.41.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.06. Grocery Outlet had a return on equity of 6.34% and a net margin of 0.18%.The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Grocery Outlet has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.750-0.800 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.