Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.78, but opened at $7.18. Grocery Outlet shares last traded at $6.9560, with a volume of 294,209 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GO shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $11.00 price target on Grocery Outlet in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered Grocery Outlet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $10.50 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Grocery Outlet presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.68.

Grocery Outlet Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $679.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.01, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Grocery Outlet had a positive return on equity of 5.93% and a negative net margin of 4.80%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. Grocery Outlet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.450-0.550 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Grocery Outlet news, EVP Steven K. Wilson sold 4,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.06, for a total transaction of $28,609.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 120,171 shares in the company, valued at $728,236.26. The trade was a 3.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Carey F. Jaros acquired 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.26 per share, for a total transaction of $250,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 76,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $476,173.16. The trade was a 110.91% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders bought 899,905 shares of company stock valued at $5,396,307 and sold 89,493 shares valued at $524,431. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 32.3% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Grocery Outlet by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 30,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 591.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,739 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. (NASDAQ: GO) is a specialty discount retailer that offers consumers deeply discounted groceries by purchasing excess inventory, closeouts, and overstocks from manufacturers and distributors. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, the company operates two primary banners—Grocery Outlet and Fresh2Go—with a combined footprint of more than 400 stores. Its product assortment spans fresh produce, meat, dairy, bakery items, household staples, natural and organic offerings, and select specialty products, all sold at significant markdowns compared to conventional supermarkets.

The company’s unique buying model enables it to source inventory through opportunistic purchases of surplus freight, discontinued items, and closeout deals, which it then passes on as savings to its customers.