CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $86.67, but opened at $89.63. CAVA Group shares last traded at $89.94, with a volume of 1,348,422 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAVA shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of CAVA Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $142.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of CAVA Group in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group decreased their price target on CAVA Group from $160.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Securities cut their price objective on CAVA Group from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded CAVA Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.47.

CAVA Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 197.57 and a beta of 3.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.40.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $227.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $223.34 million. CAVA Group had a net margin of 5.88% and a return on equity of 9.10%. As a group, research analysts forecast that CAVA Group, Inc. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at CAVA Group

In related news, insider Theodoros Xenohristos sold 851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total transaction of $101,422.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 358,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,785,024.10. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brett Schulman sold 20,564 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,235 shares of company stock valued at $3,514,101 over the last three months. 12.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAVA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,357,187 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 491,320 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,455,035 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 holdings 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 buying an additional 363,814 shares during the period. 73.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.