Short Interest in Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAST) Rises By 28.6%

Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAST) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,440,000 shares, an increase of 28.6% from the March 31st total of 1,120,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 673,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TAST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Carrols Restaurant Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Carrols Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $9.55 price objective (down previously from $10.00) on shares of Carrols Restaurant Group in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $9.55 price objective (down previously from $13.00) on shares of Carrols Restaurant Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.87.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TAST. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Carrols Restaurant Group by 73.6% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,257 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Carrols Restaurant Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Carrols Restaurant Group by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in Carrols Restaurant Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Carrols Restaurant Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $98,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.80% of the company’s stock.

Carrols Restaurant Group Stock Performance

Shares of TAST remained flat at $9.51 during mid-day trading on Friday. 378,133 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 459,537. Carrols Restaurant Group has a 52-week low of $3.67 and a 52-week high of $9.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.31. The stock has a market cap of $545.68 million, a PE ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 2.50.

Carrols Restaurant Group (NASDAQ:TAST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.05. Carrols Restaurant Group had a net margin of 1.80% and a return on equity of 19.41%. The firm had revenue of $470.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $470.41 million. Research analysts anticipate that Carrols Restaurant Group will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carrols Restaurant Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Carrols Restaurant Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.38%.

About Carrols Restaurant Group

Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates restaurants in the United States. It operates quick service restaurants as a franchisee under the Burger King and Popeyes brands in 23 Northeastern, Midwestern, Southcentral, and Southeastern states. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Syracuse, New York.