Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Telsey Advisory Group downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to a market perform rating. The stock had previously closed at $16.61, but opened at $15.79. Telsey Advisory Group now has a $19.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $27.00. Grocery Outlet shares last traded at $15.26, with a volume of 229,952 shares changing hands.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Craig Hallum cut Grocery Outlet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $32.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America cut shares of Grocery Outlet from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $27.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Roth Capital raised Grocery Outlet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Grocery Outlet has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Grocery Outlet news, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $1,890,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 70,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,340,728.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Grocery Outlet news, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $1,890,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,340,728.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 200,095 shares of Grocery Outlet stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.29, for a total value of $3,259,547.55. Following the transaction, the director now owns 70,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,580.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 500,095 shares of company stock valued at $8,876,548. 4.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GO. 12 West Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 383.3% in the first quarter. 12 West Capital Management LP now owns 3,625,000 shares of the company's stock worth $104,328,000 after acquiring an additional 2,875,000 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 281.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,579,683 shares of the company's stock worth $103,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641,016 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 677.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,981,558 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,832,000 after buying an additional 1,726,741 shares during the period. Solel Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet during the second quarter worth about $35,980,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 889.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,010,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,359,000 after acquiring an additional 908,680 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.87% of the company's stock.

Grocery Outlet Stock Down 16.3 %

The business's 50 day moving average is $17.02 and its 200-day moving average is $20.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.10.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. Grocery Outlet had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 5.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.68 EPS 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.