Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) Short Interest Up 14.2% in October

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) was the target of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,660,000 shares, a growth of 14.2% from the October 15th total of 10,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.7 days. Currently, 12.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Grocery Outlet

In related news, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 200,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.29, for a total transaction of $3,259,547.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 70,938 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,580.02. This represents a 73.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 1,224.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 300,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,271,000 after purchasing an additional 277,706 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet in the third quarter valued at approximately $511,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 357.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 519,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,118,000 after buying an additional 406,039 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 0.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Grocery Outlet in the 3rd quarter valued at $566,000. 99.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Grocery Outlet Stock Performance

GO traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $17.86. 216,240 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,841,762. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Grocery Outlet has a 1 year low of $13.60 and a 1 year high of $29.80.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Grocery Outlet had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 5.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Grocery Outlet will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on shares of Grocery Outlet from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $21.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Craig Hallum decreased their price target on Grocery Outlet from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Grocery Outlet currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

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.