CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) Short Interest Down 32.6% in February

CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,070,000 shares, a drop of 32.6% from the February 13th total of 9,010,000 shares. Currently, 6.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,880,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CAVA shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of CAVA Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $142.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $160.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $127.00 to $104.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of CAVA Group in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $145.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.47.

CAVA Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAVA traded up $3.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,263,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,986,267. The company has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of 168.37 and a beta of 3.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $114.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.06. CAVA Group has a fifty-two week low of $58.22 and a fifty-two week high of $172.43.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.01). CAVA Group had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 5.88%. The firm had revenue of $227.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $223.34 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that CAVA Group will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam David Phillips sold 615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.39, for a total value of $76,499.85. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,860.76. This trade represents a 5.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett Schulman sold 20,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total transaction of $2,450,817.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 776,369 shares in the company, valued at $92,527,657.42. This represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,235 shares of company stock valued at $3,514,101. Company insiders own 12.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CAVA Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CAVA. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in CAVA Group by 36,658.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,461,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,683,000 after acquiring an additional 2,455,035 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of CAVA Group by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,011,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $903,709,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,187 shares during the period. Man Group plc raised its stake in shares of CAVA Group by 563.7% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 935,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,476,000 after acquiring an additional 794,187 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of CAVA Group by 121.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,222,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,492,000 after acquiring an additional 669,599 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of CAVA Group by 116.7% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 84,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,560,000 after acquiring an additional 591,866 shares during the period. 73.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CAVA Group

CAVA Group, Inc owns and operates a chain of restaurants under the CAVA brand in the United States. The company also offers dips, spreads, and dressings through grocery stores. In addition, the company provides online and mobile ordering platforms. Cava Group, Inc was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia.