Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 854,961 Shares of Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. has significantly reduced its stake in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. by 95.8%, owning only 37,063 shares after selling 854,961 shares in the first quarter.
• Despite the reduction in Victory's holdings, several other institutional investors, including Sterling Capital Management LLC and Invesco Ltd., increased their investments in Grocery Outlet during the same period.
• Analysts have varied outlooks on Grocery Outlet, with price targets ranging from $16.00 to $19.00, and the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $15.62.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO - Free Report) by 95.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,063 shares of the company's stock after selling 854,961 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Grocery Outlet were worth $518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 276.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,773 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 236.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,188 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 3,644 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Grocery Outlet by 53.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 5,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 2,034 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,700 shares of the company's stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.87% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Grocery Outlet news, Director Erik D. Ragatz purchased 19,000 shares of Grocery Outlet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.46 per share, for a total transaction of $274,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $274,740. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.50% of the company's stock.

Grocery Outlet Price Performance

Shares of GO traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $13.42. The company had a trading volume of 4,067,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,114,436. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $13.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.19. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.26 and a 1-year high of $21.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.27.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.06. Grocery Outlet had a return on equity of 6.21% and a net margin of 0.39%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.09 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Grocery Outlet from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Grocery Outlet from $14.50 to $17.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Grocery Outlet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price 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 given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Grocery Outlet has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.62.

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.