Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Sees Large Volume Increase After Insider Buying Activity

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. 1,531,174 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 7% from the previous session's volume of 1,431,443 shares.The stock last traded at $20.56 and had previously closed at $20.43.

Specifically, Director Thomas F. Herman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $58,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $330,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Grocery Outlet news, Director Thomas F. Herman sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $58,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $330,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 300,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.16, for a total value of $7,848,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 107,123 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,802,337.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 146,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,323,025 and sold 506,588 shares valued at $13,367,577. Insiders own 4.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $43.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Grocery Outlet from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on Grocery Outlet from $27.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Grocery Outlet from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on Grocery Outlet from $37.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.90.

Grocery Outlet Stock Up 2.3 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.80. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 32.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $989.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $982.44 million. Grocery Outlet had a net margin of 1.60% and a return on equity of 5.46%. On average, research analysts predict that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Grocery Outlet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 0.7% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 58,944 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 42,093 shares of the company's stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,366 shares of the company's stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,586 shares of the company's stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 37,341 shares of the company's stock worth $1,007,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.