CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) Short Interest Update

CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,360,000 shares, a growth of 54.2% from the February 28th total of 6,070,000 shares. Currently, 9.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,940,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAVA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on CAVA Group from $163.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of CAVA Group in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays dropped 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of CAVA Group from $147.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CAVA Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.47.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of CAVA Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,357,187 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in CAVA Group by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,976,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,533,000 after buying an additional 491,320 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 2,455,035 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in CAVA Group by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,210,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,820,000 after buying an additional 321,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of CAVA Group by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,464,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,243,000 after acquiring an additional 363,814 shares in the last quarter. 73.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CAVA Group Price Performance

Shares of CAVA stock traded down $2.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $85.75. The company had a trading volume of 14,359,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,030,672. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.91 billion, a PE ratio of 186.41 and a beta of 3.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $108.04 and its 200 day moving average is $121.94. 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 announced 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 net margin of 5.88% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company had revenue of $227.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $223.34 million. Equities analysts forecast that CAVA Group will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current 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.