CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $81.00, but opened at $82.62. CAVA Group shares last traded at $85.34, with a volume of 719,354 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAVA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised CAVA Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on CAVA Group in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised CAVA Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $142.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of CAVA Group in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.47.

CAVA Group Stock Up 6.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $9.95 billion, a PE ratio of 186.64 and a beta of 3.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.36.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) last posted its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $227.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $223.34 million. CAVA Group had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 5.88%. On average, research analysts expect that CAVA Group, Inc. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brett Schulman sold 20,564 shares of CAVA Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 owns 776,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,527,657.42. This trade represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam David Phillips sold 615 shares of CAVA Group stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.39, for a total value of $76,499.85. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,860.76. This represents a 5.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,235 shares of company stock worth $3,514,101 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.10% of the company’s stock.

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 boosted its stake in CAVA Group by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,408,000 after buying an additional 19,225 shares during the period. Cim LLC purchased a new stake in CAVA Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,073,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in CAVA Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $12,561,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 4,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in CAVA Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. Institutional investors own 73.15% of the company’s stock.

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.