CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) Short Interest Up 8.6% in August

CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,730,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the August 15th total of 10,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Currently, 12.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler cut CAVA Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $92.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on CAVA Group from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on CAVA Group from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brett Schulman sold 201,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.53, for a total transaction of $25,294,797.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 702,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,196,122.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other CAVA Group news, CEO Brett Schulman sold 201,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.53, for a total transaction of $25,294,797.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 702,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,196,122.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Theodoros Xenohristos sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.01, for a total value of $8,190,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 424,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,665,234.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 400,943 shares of company stock valued at $47,062,986.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CAVA Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CAVA Group in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in CAVA Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CAVA Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of CAVA Group during the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in CAVA Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. 73.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CAVA Group Price Performance

CAVA traded up $1.96 on Wednesday, reaching $124.43. 1,788,817 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,806,713. CAVA Group has a 52-week low of $29.05 and a 52-week high of $128.18. The company has a market cap of $14.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 303.49 and a beta of 3.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $99.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.21.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $233.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.47 million. CAVA Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CAVA Group will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.