Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,000,000 shares, a decline of 20.6% from the May 15th total of 3,780,000 shares. Approximately 13.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 895,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CBRL. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Benchmark upgraded Cracker Barrel Old Country Store to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $72.00 to $62.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, CL King cut Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.14.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Trading Down 6.3 %

Shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store stock traded down $2.98 on Friday, reaching $44.25. 762,251 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,154,444. The company has a market capitalization of $982.35 million, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.46. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has a 52 week low of $43.38 and a 52 week high of $98.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ:CBRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $817.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $820.61 million. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store had a return on equity of 22.11% and a net margin of 1.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Cracker Barrel Old Country Store will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store’s dividend payout ratio is currently 191.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CBRL. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 43,850 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,947,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 692,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $46,541,000 after purchasing an additional 24,902 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,922 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 29,840 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,005,000 after purchasing an additional 5,398 shares in the last quarter. 96.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.