CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during 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. Approximately 9.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Insider Activity at CAVA Group

In other news, insider Kenneth Robert Bertram sold 678 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.39, for a total transaction of $84,336.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,129,039.68. This represents a 1.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett Schulman sold 20,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total transaction of $2,450,817.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 776,369 shares in the company, valued at $92,527,657.42. This represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,235 shares of company stock worth $3,514,101. 12.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CAVA Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in CAVA Group by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,408,000 after acquiring an additional 19,225 shares during the last quarter. Cim LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CAVA Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,073,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in CAVA Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,561,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CAVA Group by 84.6% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,218,000 after buying an additional 4,946 shares during the period. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of CAVA Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. Institutional investors own 73.15% of the company’s stock.

CAVA Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of CAVA opened at $86.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 188.10 and a beta of 3.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.67. CAVA Group has a 12 month low of $58.22 and a 12 month high of $172.43.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $227.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $223.34 million. CAVA Group had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 5.88%. As a group, research analysts predict that CAVA Group will post 0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAVA. Piper Sandler upgraded CAVA Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $142.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of CAVA Group in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of CAVA Group from $160.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of CAVA Group from $147.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CAVA Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.25.

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.