Equitable Holdings Inc. Makes New Investment in CAVA Group, Inc. $CAVA

Equitable Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 26,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,091,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CAVA Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in CAVA Group during the second quarter worth $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in CAVA Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in CAVA Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings 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 period. 73.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CAVA Group Price Performance

CAVA opened at $67.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.32. CAVA Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.41 and a fifty-two week high of $98.79.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. The company 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 was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that CAVA Group, Inc. will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAVA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (down from $106.00) on shares of CAVA Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of CAVA Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of CAVA Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Mizuho decreased their target price on CAVA Group from $85.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on CAVA Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CAVA Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CAVA Group news, CAO Adam David Phillips sold 757 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.43, for a total transaction of $67,698.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,848 shares in the company, valued at $612,416.64. This trade represents a 9.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Tricia K. Tolivar sold 4,969 shares of CAVA Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.43, for a total value of $444,377.67. Following the sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 67,512 shares of company stock valued at $6,050,417 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

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.