Wolfe Research Initiates Coverage on CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA)

Key Points

• Wolfe Research initiated coverage on CAVA with an "Outperform" rating and a $93 price target, implying roughly an 18% upside from the current share price.
• CAVA has a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $84.04, and its latest quarter beat estimates (EPS $0.04 vs. $0.03) while revenue rose 20.9% year‑over‑year.
• Insiders have been selling recently (39,055 shares, ~$2.57M sold this quarter), but institutional ownership is high at about 73.15%, with several large funds materially increasing their positions.

Equities researchers at Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an "outperform" rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research's price objective points to a potential upside of 18.11% from the company's current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Johnson Rice set a $72.00 price objective on CAVA Group in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on CAVA Group from $71.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on CAVA Group from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of CAVA Group from $65.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of CAVA Group from $52.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.04.

CAVA Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CAVA opened at $78.74 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $68.23 and its 200-day moving average is $61.96. The company has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.82, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 2.16. CAVA Group has a 52-week low of $43.41 and a 52-week high of $101.50.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.01. CAVA Group had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 8.43%. The business had revenue of $274.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $268.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.05 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that CAVA Group will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CAVA Group news, CAO Adam David Phillips sold 774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.14, for a total value of $48,096.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,435 shares in the company, valued at $648,430.90. This represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett Schulman sold 4,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.14, for a total value of $282,239.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 802,783 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,884,935.62. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 39,055 shares of company stock worth $2,572,303 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CAVA Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of CAVA Group by 105.4% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,228,736 shares of the company's stock worth $255,451,000 after buying an additional 2,169,553 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CAVA Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $114,098,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of CAVA Group by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,440,040 shares of the company's stock worth $495,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,805,174 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in CAVA Group by 118.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,953,688 shares of the company's stock worth $178,432,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in CAVA Group by 689.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,387,774 shares of the company's stock worth $81,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212,068 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.15% of the company's stock.

CAVA Group Company 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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