Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHUY) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHUY) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 550,000 shares, a growth of 14.3% from the August 31st total of 481,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 437,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Chuy’s

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHUY. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Chuy’s by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,206,181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,264,000 after purchasing an additional 258,121 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Chuy’s by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 946,167 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,914,000 after purchasing an additional 217,838 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Chuy’s by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 907,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $23,533,000 after purchasing an additional 32,142 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chuy’s by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 382,479 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,914,000 after purchasing an additional 65,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Chuy’s by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 341,602 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,854,000 after purchasing an additional 55,465 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark cut Chuy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $37.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $37.50 price target on shares of Chuy’s in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Chuy’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $38.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com began coverage on Chuy’s in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $37.50 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Chuy’s in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.25.

Chuy’s Price Performance

NASDAQ:CHUY traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 172,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,148. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.71. Chuy’s has a twelve month low of $22.52 and a twelve month high of $39.40. The stock has a market cap of $644.23 million, a P/E ratio of 22.12 and a beta of 1.77.

Chuy’s (NASDAQ:CHUY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The restaurant operator reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.01. Chuy’s had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 5.84%. The firm had revenue of $119.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.46 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Chuy’s will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Chuy’s

Chuy’s Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants under the Chuy’s name in the United States. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.