Insider Buying: Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) Director Purchases $287,500.00 in Stock

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) Director Erik Ragatz acquired 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.75 per share, with a total value of $287,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 526,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,027,375. This trade represents a 10.49% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Grocery Outlet Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Grocery Outlet stock opened at $5.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $568.29 million, a P/E ratio of -2.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.50. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a 12-month low of $5.66 and a 12-month high of $19.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.72.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Grocery Outlet by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,763,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,216,000 after buying an additional 5,528,722 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,255,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,685,000 after buying an additional 213,325 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,709,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,757,000 after acquiring an additional 22,418 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,619,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,149,000 after acquiring an additional 221,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,577,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,467,000 after acquiring an additional 20,819 shares during the period. 99.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Craig Hallum downgraded Grocery Outlet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $11.00 target price on Grocery Outlet in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Grocery Outlet in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 price target (down from $18.00) on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Grocery Outlet from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Grocery Outlet has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $10.68.

More Grocery Outlet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Grocery Outlet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director insider buying: Director Erik D. Ragatz substantially increased his stake, buying 33,997 shares on March 18 (~$5.85/sh) and a reported 50,000 shares on March 19 (~$5.75/sh), raising his direct holdings to ~526,500 shares. Insider purchases at current low prices can signal management confidence and provide short‑term support. InsiderTrades: Director Purchases
• Neutral Sentiment: Company profile/operations story: A feature on Grocery Outlet’s opportunistic sourcing and discount model ran on MSN, useful context for revenue and margin drivers but unlikely to move the stock materially by itself. MSN: How Grocery Outlet’s food gets onto its shelves
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple class‑action / shareholder alerts: Several law firms (Pomerantz, Robbins LLP, Bernstein Liebhard, Faruqi & Faruqi, Levi & Korsinsky, etc.) have announced or reminded investors of securities‑fraud suits covering Aug. 5, 2025–Mar. 4, 2026, and set lead‑plaintiff deadlines (commonly May 15, 2026). The proliferation of filings increases legal and reputational risk, may raise defense or settlement costs, and typically weighs on the stock until resolved. Pomerantz investor alert on GO class action
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst and estimate pressure: Following the March 4 quarter (missed EPS and slightly light revenue) sell‑side firms have cut targets/ratings and services such as Zacks have trimmed multi‑year EPS views (e.g., FY2028 view lower than consensus). Downward revisions and “hold/reduce” stances constrain upside until earnings/guidance stabilize. (See recent analyst notes and coverage summaries.)

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.