Advisory Research Inc. Acquires New Shares in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. $GO

Advisory Research Inc. bought a new position in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 83,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,337,000. Advisory Research Inc. owned about 0.08% of Grocery Outlet as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 122,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,713,000 after buying an additional 6,736 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Grocery Outlet by 14.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 357,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,003,000 after purchasing an additional 44,214 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Grocery Outlet by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 16,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Grocery Outlet by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 642,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,984,000 after purchasing an additional 44,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $185,000. 99.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 target price (down from $18.00) on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered Grocery Outlet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $15.00 to $9.00 in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $10.50 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Grocery Outlet presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.68.

Key Headlines Impacting Grocery Outlet

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple large director buys — Directors Erik D. Ragatz (125,000 shares at ~$6.00), Jeffrey York (120,000 shares at ~$5.82) and Carey Jaros (40,000 shares at ~$6.26) materially increased holdings, signaling insider confidence and providing near‑term demand support. Read More. • Read More. • Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: High institutional ownership — Nearly all float is held by institutions, which supports liquidity but can amplify volatility if large funds rebalance. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities‑law investigations announced — Several law firms (Pomerantz, Glancy Prongay Wolke, Frank R. Cruz and others) have launched probes into possible disclosure/ guidance issues, increasing legal risk and investor uncertainty. Read More. • Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Operational hit — Company will close four Northeast Ohio stores citing “millions in losses,” a near‑term drag on revenues/margins in affected markets. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sales by senior execs — CEO and several senior executives sold stock recently; large insider sales can raise investor concern about near‑term outlook or liquidity needs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings & guidance weakness plus analyst cuts — Q4 slightly missed EPS/revenue and FY‑2026 EPS guidance of $0.45–$0.55 is lower than some models; several firms cut ratings/targets, pressuring sentiment. Read More. • Read More.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carey F. Jaros acquired 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $6.26 per share, with a total value of $250,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 76,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $476,173.16. The trade was a 110.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Erik D. Ragatz acquired 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.00 per share, with a total value of $750,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 326,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,959,000. This represents a 62.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 301,000 shares of company stock worth $1,802,160 and have sold 81,347 shares worth $475,066. 4.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Grocery Outlet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GO opened at $6.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $596.75 million, a P/E ratio of -2.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.50. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has a 52-week low of $5.66 and a 52-week high of $19.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.28.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Grocery Outlet had a negative net margin of 4.80% and a positive return on equity of 5.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. Grocery Outlet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.450-0.550 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Grocery Outlet 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.