Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHUY) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHUY) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 550,000 shares, an increase of 14.3% from the August 31st total of 481,200 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 437,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Chuy’s in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.50 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Chuy’s in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $37.50 price objective on shares of Chuy’s in a report on Monday, August 12th. Benchmark downgraded Chuy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $37.50 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Chuy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $24.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Chuy’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chuy’s

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Chuy’s by 257.8% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,975 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Chuy’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Chuy’s by 52.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 256,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,645,000 after purchasing an additional 88,406 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Chuy’s by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 112,107 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 29,445 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Chuy’s by 71.7% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 57,303 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 23,923 shares during the period. 99.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Chuy’s Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHUY traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.39. The stock had a trading volume of 172,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,148. Chuy’s has a one year low of $22.52 and a one year high of $39.40. The stock has a market cap of $644.23 million, a PE ratio of 22.12 and a beta of 1.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.71.

Chuy’s (NASDAQ:CHUY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.01. Chuy’s had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 5.84%. The business had revenue of $119.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.46 million. On average, research analysts expect that Chuy’s will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

About Chuy’s

Chuy’s Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants under the Chuy’s name in the United States. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.