Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Price Target Raised to $11.00

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) had its price target increased by Morgan Stanley from $7.00 to $11.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GO. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Grocery Outlet from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered Grocery Outlet from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Grocery Outlet from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Grocery Outlet from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.59.

Grocery Outlet Trading Up 3.1%

Grocery Outlet stock opened at $11.13 on Thursday. Grocery Outlet has a 12-month low of $5.66 and a 12-month high of $19.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of -2.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 17.35 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.65.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Grocery Outlet had a positive return on equity of 5.84% and a negative net margin of 8.04%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Grocery Outlet will post 0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul Blaine Miller acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.37 per share, for a total transaction of $93,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 59,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $554,432.27. The trade was a 20.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Grocery Outlet by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 30,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 27,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 1,852 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 115,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,435,000 after buying an additional 1,957 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 1,030.4% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 2,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 2,308 shares during the period. 99.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Grocery Outlet Company Profile

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.