Short Interest in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL) Expands By 15.8%

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,790,000 shares, an increase of 15.8% from the October 31st total of 2,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 694,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Currently, 12.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CBRL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Argus upgraded shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.25.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Price Performance

Shares of CBRL traded up $2.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.56. 781,875 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 632,596. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.38 and a 200-day moving average of $44.50. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has a 1-year low of $34.88 and a 1-year high of $83.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.42.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ:CBRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $894.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $898.94 million. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 18.58%. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.79 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Cracker Barrel Old Country Store will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store during the second quarter worth about $25,636,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,075,016 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,752,000 after acquiring an additional 111,892 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,498,000. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 96.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 160,946 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,299,000 after purchasing an additional 78,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,526,000. 96.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

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.