Short Interest in CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) Expands By 54.2%

CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA - Get Free Report) was the recipient 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 company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,940,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Activity

In other CAVA Group news, insider Kenneth Robert Bertram sold 678 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.39, for a total value of $84,336.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,129,039.68. This trade represents a 1.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam David Phillips sold 615 shares of CAVA Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.39, for a total transaction of $76,499.85. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,884 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,235 shares of company stock worth $3,514,101. Company insiders own 12.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of CAVA Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAVA. Modus Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CAVA Group by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 6,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in CAVA Group by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,542 shares of the company's stock worth $8,408,000 after acquiring an additional 19,225 shares during the period. Cim LLC purchased a new stake in CAVA Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,073,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of CAVA Group during the 4th quarter valued at $12,561,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CAVA Group by 84.6% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,795 shares of the company's stock worth $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 4,946 shares during the period. 73.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CAVA. Barclays decreased their price objective on CAVA Group from $127.00 to $104.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded CAVA Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on CAVA Group from $163.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of CAVA Group in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of CAVA Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $142.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CAVA Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.25.

CAVA Group Price Performance

NYSE:CAVA traded down $5.86 on Thursday, reaching $84.49. 2,391,210 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,035,597. The firm has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.67 and a beta of 3.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.20. CAVA Group has a 52 week low of $58.22 and a 52 week high of $172.43.

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

CAVA Group Company Profile

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.