Short Interest in Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHUY) Grows By 6.1%

Chuy’s Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHUY) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,220,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the October 15th total of 1,150,000 shares. Currently, 6.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 122,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Chuy’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Chuy’s by 23.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 9,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Chuy’s by 43.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 67,624 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,826,000 after purchasing an additional 20,533 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Chuy’s by 17.9% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 18,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,730 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Chuy’s by 35.8% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,953 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Chuy’s by 58.1% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,075 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 4,803 shares in the last quarter. 99.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CHUY. StockNews.com raised Chuy’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 6th. Stephens cut their price objective on Chuy’s from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Wedbush cut their price objective on Chuy’s from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Chuy’s from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on Chuy’s from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.29.

Chuy’s Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHUY opened at $35.46 on Friday. Chuy’s has a 1 year low of $27.70 and a 1 year high of $43.17. The firm has a market cap of $615.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 1.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.26.

Chuy’s Company Profile

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.