Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Upgraded to "Buy" at Craig Hallum

Key Points

• Grocery Outlet has been upgraded by Craig Hallum to a "buy" rating from a "hold," with a price target of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 30.57% from its current price.
• The company recently reported earnings, achieving $0.23 EPS for the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.17, although revenue fell slightly short of expectations.
• Insider transactions show that Director Erik D. Ragatz purchased 19,000 shares of the company, increasing his position significantly, which highlights confidence in the stock's potential.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Craig Hallum from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $17.00 price target on the stock. Craig Hallum's price target indicates a potential downside of 8.31% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Grocery Outlet from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Grocery Outlet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Grocery Outlet from $14.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Grocery Outlet currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.08.

Grocery Outlet Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of GO traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $18.54. 5,619,094 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,697,051. Grocery Outlet has a 52 week low of $10.26 and a 52 week high of $21.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.23. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 264.89, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.27.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 5.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,717,454 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,830,000 after acquiring an additional 582,822 shares in the last quarter. FPR Partners LLC grew its position in Grocery Outlet by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. FPR Partners LLC now owns 5,991,474 shares of the company's stock worth $93,527,000 after acquiring an additional 791,474 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,833,955 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,845,000 after buying an additional 35,938 shares during the period. Simcoe Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet during the 4th quarter worth about $53,185,000. Finally, 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 buying an additional 3,068,405 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.87% of the company's stock.

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.