Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ:CBRL) Sees Large Volume Increase - Still a Buy?

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL - Get Free Report) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 2,795,110 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 235% from the previous session's volume of 833,476 shares.The stock last traded at $55.33 and had previously closed at $54.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CBRL shares. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Benchmark reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.86.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ:CBRL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.41. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 1.15%. The company had revenue of $821.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $824.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cracker Barrel Old Country Store news, major shareholder Gmt Capital Corp purchased 53,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $44.60 per share, with a total value of $2,363,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 2,833,700 shares in the company, valued at $126,383,020. This trade represents a 1.91% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 385,307 shares of company stock valued at $15,679,910. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,592 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 685.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. 96.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Company Profile

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc develops and operates the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store concept in the United States. Its Cracker Barrel stores consist of restaurants with a gift shop. The company's restaurants serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, as well as dine-in, pick-up, and delivery services.