Short Interest in Driven Brands Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:DRVN) Declines By 6.9%

Driven Brands Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:DRVN) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,340,000 shares, a drop of 6.9% from the March 15th total of 4,660,000 shares. Currently, 7.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DRVN shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Driven Brands from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Driven Brands from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Driven Brands from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Driven Brands from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Driven Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DRVN. HG Vora Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Driven Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $49,910,000. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in Driven Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $22,402,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Driven Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $18,583,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Driven Brands by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,918,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273,280 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Driven Brands by 111.4% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,958,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,209 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.08% of the company’s stock.

Driven Brands Stock Performance

DRVN stock opened at $14.65 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $14.43 and its 200 day moving average is $13.33. Driven Brands has a 52 week low of $10.60 and a 52 week high of $31.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

Driven Brands (NASDAQ:DRVN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $553.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $572.92 million. Driven Brands had a positive return on equity of 11.00% and a negative net margin of 32.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Driven Brands will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Driven Brands

Driven Brands Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides automotive services to retail and commercial customers in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers various services, such as paint, collision, glass, repair, car wash, oil change, and maintenance services. The company also distributes automotive parts, including radiators, air conditioning components, and exhaust products to automotive repair shops, auto parts stores, body shops, and other auto repair outlets; windshields and glass accessories through a network of distribution centers; and consumable products, such as oil filters and wiper blades, as well as training services to repair and maintenance, and paint and collision shops.