Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-three research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.8393.

CMG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $42.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Activity at Chipotle Mexican Grill

In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Matthew R. Bush sold 2,675 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $95,631.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at $765,586.25. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CMG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the second quarter valued at about $4,417,475,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 3,133.9% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 66,453,578 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,259,422,000 after buying an additional 64,398,656 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth approximately $711,837,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 101,688,010 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,762,457,000 after purchasing an additional 13,843,222 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 2nd quarter worth about $383,483,000. Institutional investors own 91.30% of the company’s stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

Chipotle Mexican Grill stock opened at $36.23 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $35.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.89. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 52-week low of $28.03 and a 52-week high of $42.81.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 54.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.15 EPS for the current year.

About Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc is a fast-casual restaurant company that operates restaurants under the Chipotle Mexican Grill brand. Its menu centers on customizable Mexican-inspired food, including burritos, bowls, tacos and salads, along with sides, beverages and children’s meals.

The company emphasizes cooking with responsibly sourced ingredients and preparing food in its restaurants. Customers can order meals in person, through digital ordering channels, for pickup or delivery. Chipotle serves customers primarily in the United States, with additional restaurants in Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

Chipotle was founded in 1993 by Steve Ells in Denver, Colorado.