Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Stock Price

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) had its target price trimmed by Stifel Nicolaus from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CMG. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Cfra upgraded shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chipotle Mexican Grill presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.31.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock opened at $57.54 on Wednesday. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 1-year low of $47.98 and a 1-year high of $69.26. The company has a market capitalization of $78.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.56, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.84.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.51% and a return on equity of 43.20%. On average, research analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chipotle Mexican Grill

In other news, insider Laurie Schalow sold 4,404 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $286,304.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 185,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,078,337.92. This represents a 2.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $186,000. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 6.6% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 278,976 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,075,000 after purchasing an additional 17,276 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4,408.4% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 12,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 12,123 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC bought a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the third quarter valued at about $708,000. Finally, Axiom Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1,423.8% in the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 8,970 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. It sells food and beverages through offering burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos, and salads. The company also provides delivery and related services its app and website. It has operations in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.