Short Interest in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) Declines By 31.5%

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,990,000 shares, a decrease of 31.5% from the October 31st total of 11,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 8.6% of the company's stock are sold short.

Grocery Outlet Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:GO traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $21.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,258,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,858,570. The business's 50 day moving average is $17.29 and its 200-day moving average is $19.09. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.13. Grocery Outlet has a one year low of $13.60 and a one year high of $29.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. Grocery Outlet had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 1.20%. Grocery Outlet's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Grocery Outlet will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GO. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Grocery Outlet from $21.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Grocery Outlet from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Grocery Outlet presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.00.

Insider Transactions at Grocery Outlet

In other news, Director Erik D. Ragatz purchased 110,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.25 per share, for a total transaction of $2,007,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 539,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,851,076.25. The trade was a 25.59 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 200,095 shares of Grocery Outlet stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 70,938 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,580.02. The trade was a 73.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Grocery Outlet by 22.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,613,617 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,933,000 after purchasing an additional 655,065 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,498,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,388,000 after buying an additional 609,871 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,407,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,796,000 after buying an additional 21,237 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 677.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Solel Partners LP acquired a new position in Grocery Outlet during the second quarter worth $35,980,000. 99.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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