Short Interest in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL) Drops By 19.7%

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,200,000 shares, a drop of 19.7% from the September 15th total of 2,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 709,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 10.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Trading Up 3.1 %

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store stock traded up $1.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $44.54. The company had a trading volume of 560,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 750,134. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has a 12-month low of $34.88 and a 12-month high of $83.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $988.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.61.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ:CBRL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.19). Cracker Barrel Old Country Store had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The company had revenue of $894.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $898.94 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.79 earnings per share. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cracker Barrel Old Country Store will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store’s payout ratio is 36.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on CBRL. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,616,012 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $190,263,000 after purchasing an additional 6,804 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 0.4% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,036,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $148,107,000 after buying an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store during the second quarter worth approximately $25,636,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 0.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 115,605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,408,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 47.2% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,489,000 after buying an additional 28,627 shares during the period. 96.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc develops and operates the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store concept in the United States. Its Cracker Barrel stores consist of restaurants with a gift shop. The company's restaurants serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, as well as dine-in, pick-up, and delivery services.