CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) Trading Up 5% – Time to Buy?

Shares of CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) shot up 5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $132.82 and last traded at $132.28. 822,992 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 1,922,434 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CAVA shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of CAVA Group from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of CAVA Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of CAVA Group from $118.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of CAVA Group from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.13.

CAVA Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a PE ratio of 292.30 and a beta of 3.21. The company has a 50-day moving average of $125.46 and a 200 day moving average of $119.33.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $243.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.05 million. CAVA Group had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 5.88%. CAVA Group’s revenue was up 38.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that CAVA Group, Inc. will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at CAVA Group

In related news, CEO Brett Schulman sold 20,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total value of $2,450,817.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 776,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,527,657.42. This represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Theodoros Xenohristos sold 851 shares of the company’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 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 $42,785,024.10. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 676,050 shares of company stock worth $100,043,120 in the last quarter. 12.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CAVA Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAVA. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CAVA Group in the 4th quarter valued at $2,628,000. Wealthstar Advisors LLC bought a new position in CAVA Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,164,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CAVA Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $86,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of CAVA Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,097,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of CAVA Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,007,000. 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.