Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHUY) Short Interest Down 5.4% in March

Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHUY) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, a decrease of 5.4% from the March 15th total of 1,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 138,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.2 days. Currently, 8.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens initiated coverage on Chuy’s in a research report on Friday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Chuy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Wedbush cut their price target on Chuy’s from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Chuy’s from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chuy’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chuy’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CHUY. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Chuy’s by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,238,429 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $87,438,000 after buying an additional 73,665 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chuy’s by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,706,310 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,589,000 after purchasing an additional 10,774 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Chuy’s by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,265,718 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,388,000 after purchasing an additional 25,512 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in Chuy’s by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 946,167 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,914,000 after purchasing an additional 217,838 shares during the period. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Chuy’s by 4.3% during the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 936,022 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,646,000 after buying an additional 38,718 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.92% of the company’s stock.

Chuy’s Stock Performance

NASDAQ CHUY opened at $30.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $536.88 million, a PE ratio of 17.80 and a beta of 1.63. Chuy’s has a 52-week low of $30.80 and a 52-week high of $43.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.46.

Chuy’s (NASDAQ:CHUY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $116.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.63 million. Chuy’s had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 6.83%. Chuy’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Chuy’s will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chuy’s Company Profile

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.