Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 582,822 Shares of Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. $GO

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. by 5.8%, owning 10.94% of the company worth approximately $149.8 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Various analysts have upgraded their ratings and price targets for Grocery Outlet, with Wells Fargo raising its target from $18.00 to $19.00 and Craig Hallum moving from a "hold" to a "buy" rating with a $17.00 target.
• Grocery Outlet reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.23, surpassing consensus estimates, while year-over-year revenue growth was noted at 4.5%.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,717,454 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 582,822 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.94% of Grocery Outlet worth $149,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GO. FPR Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. FPR Partners LLC now owns 5,991,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,527,000 after purchasing an additional 791,474 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Grocery Outlet by 0.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Grocery Outlet in the fourth quarter worth $53,185,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Grocery Outlet in the fourth quarter worth $39,128,000. Finally, Solel Partners LP grew its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Solel Partners LP now owns 2,491,567 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,893,000 after purchasing an additional 51,367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.87% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Grocery Outlet Stock Up 0.2%

GO traded up $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.63. 2,659,789 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,159,555. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $14.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a 12-month low of $10.26 and a 12-month high of $21.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 266.18, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.27.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Grocery Outlet

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

About Grocery Outlet

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.