Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 166,259 Driven Brands Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:DRVN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Driven Brands Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:DRVN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 166,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,850,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.10% of Driven Brands at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRVN. Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc bought a new position in shares of Driven Brands in the first quarter worth approximately $255,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Driven Brands by 23.9% in the first quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 30,100 shares of the company's stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Driven Brands by 25.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,194 shares of the company's stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 3,474 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Driven Brands by 5.2% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 86,478 shares of the company's stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 4,243 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Driven Brands by 1,989.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,802 shares of the company's stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 23,615 shares during the period. 77.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DRVN. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Driven Brands in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Driven Brands in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They set a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Driven Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Driven Brands in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Driven Brands from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Driven Brands Trading Up 1.4%

DRVN stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $17.26. The company had a trading volume of 444,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 663,204. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.54, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.09. Driven Brands Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.67 and a 52-week high of $18.72. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07.

Driven Brands (NASDAQ:DRVN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. Driven Brands had a negative net margin of 12.75% and a positive return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $516.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $492.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. Driven Brands's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Driven Brands Holdings Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Driven Brands

Driven Brands Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides automotive services to retail and commercial customers in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers various services, such as paint, collision, glass, repair, car wash, oil change, and maintenance services. The company also distributes automotive parts, including radiators, air conditioning components, and exhaust products to automotive repair shops, auto parts stores, body shops, and other auto repair outlets; windshields and glass accessories through a network of distribution centers; and consumable products, such as oil filters and wiper blades, as well as training services to repair and maintenance, and paint and collision shops.