CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) Upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $90.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 28.56% from the company’s previous close.

CAVA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of CAVA Group from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of CAVA Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on CAVA Group from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on CAVA Group from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CAVA Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.54.

CAVA Group Stock Down 3.5%

CAVA stock opened at $70.01 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $78.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.00. CAVA Group has a 52-week low of $43.41 and a 52-week high of $98.79. The company has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a PE ratio of 134.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 1.69.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $438.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.89 million. CAVA Group had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 4.79%.The business’s revenue was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CAVA Group will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CAVA Group

In other CAVA Group news, CFO Tricia K. Tolivar sold 4,969 shares of CAVA Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.43, for a total value of $444,377.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 234,931 shares in the company, valued at $21,009,879.33. The trade was a 2.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Kelly Costanza sold 12,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,124,100.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 98,490 shares in the company, valued at $8,864,100. The trade was a 11.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,747 shares of company stock worth $7,970,838. 6.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in CAVA Group in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of CAVA Group by 347.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 515 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in CAVA Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in CAVA Group by 118.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in CAVA Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 73.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CAVA Group

CAVA Group, Inc (NYSE: CAVA) is a leading fast-casual restaurant company specializing in Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. Operating under the CAVA brand, the company offers customizable bowls, pitas and salads built around a variety of proteins, grains, fresh vegetables and house-made spreads. With a focus on high-quality ingredients and made-to-order preparation, CAVA aims to deliver a casual yet elevated dining experience for dine-in, takeout and catering customers.

Founded in 2011 in the Washington, DC metro area by Ike Grigoropoulos, Dimitri Katsanis and Brett Schulman, CAVA has pursued an aggressive growth strategy that included the 2018 acquisition of Zoe’s Kitchen.