Short Interest in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL) Grows By 7.9%

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, a growth of 7.9% from the March 15th total of 2,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 622,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Approximately 13.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CBRL traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $60.09. 721,462 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 655,713. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has a 1 year low of $56.79 and a 1 year high of $116.05. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $68.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ:CBRL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.08. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store had a return on equity of 23.13% and a net margin of 2.43%. The business had revenue of $935.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $917.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Cracker Barrel Old Country Store will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.65%. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 138.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CBRL. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 12.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 32,445 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,852,000 after buying an additional 3,657 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 31.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,489 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 3.6% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 7.1% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,661 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by 40.6% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 27,563 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,273,000 after purchasing an additional 7,963 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CBRL. Citigroup lifted their target price on Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $82.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.14.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Company Profile

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.