William Blair Investment Management LLC Takes Position in CAVA Group, Inc. $CAVA

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management acquired 1.15 million CAVA shares worth approximately $89.9 million, representing about 0.98% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 73.15% of CAVA.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 17 Buy ratings and nine Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $89.44.
• CAVA exceeded quarterly expectations with earnings of $0.19 per share versus $0.18 estimated and revenue of $368.4 million, up 31.3% year over year. Shares opened at $73.64, while insiders recently sold stock primarily to cover tax obligations tied to equity awards.

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,145,019 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,861,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.98% of CAVA Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in CAVA Group during the 2nd quarter worth $757,013,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of CAVA Group by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,440,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $495,344,000 after buying an additional 1,805,174 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of CAVA Group by 689.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,387,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,448,000 after buying an additional 1,212,068 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in shares of CAVA Group by 1,378.3% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,260,250 shares of the company's stock worth $73,964,000 after buying an additional 1,175,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Management Co Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CAVA Group in the second quarter worth about $80,962,000. 73.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CAVA shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of CAVA Group from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of CAVA Group from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Northcoast Research upgraded CAVA Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of CAVA Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CAVA Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.44.

Insider Transactions at CAVA Group

In other CAVA Group news, CFO Tricia K. Tolivar sold 4,969 shares of CAVA Group stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Brett Schulman sold 33,174 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.43, for a total value of $2,966,750.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 798,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,424,968.67. This trade represents a 3.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 67,512 shares of company stock valued at $6,050,417 in the last ninety days. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CAVA Group Price Performance

NYSE:CAVA opened at $73.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.89, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 1.74. The company's 50-day moving average is $71.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.16. CAVA Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.41 and a 1-year high of $98.79.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $368.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $360.09 million. CAVA Group had a net margin of 4.82% and a return on equity of 8.28%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CAVA Group, Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CAVA Group Profile

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.

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