The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Stock Price

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) had its target price decreased by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sell” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 1.21% from the company’s previous close.

GO has been the subject of several other reports. Craig Hallum cut shares of Grocery Outlet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Telsey Advisory Group lowered shares of Grocery Outlet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $27.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Melius Research initiated coverage on Grocery Outlet in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm cut their price target on shares of Grocery Outlet from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on Grocery Outlet in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.73.

Grocery Outlet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GO traded up $0.52 on Friday, reaching $14.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,398,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,788,868. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.09. Grocery Outlet has a 52-week low of $13.60 and a 52-week high of $29.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.10.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.05. Grocery Outlet had a return on equity of 5.18% and a net margin of 1.30%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. Grocery Outlet’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Grocery Outlet will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 100,000 shares of Grocery Outlet stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 70,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,340,728.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Grocery Outlet news, Director Eric J. Jr. Lindberg sold 200,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.29, for a total value of $3,259,547.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,155,580.02. 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 100,000 shares of Grocery Outlet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $1,890,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 70,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,340,728.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 500,095 shares of company stock worth $8,876,548. 4.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GO. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 76.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Grocery Outlet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

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.