Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $70.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on CMG. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $62.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $59.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.27.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of CMG traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.63. 6,743,957 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,851,402. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 12 month low of $43.10 and a 12 month high of $69.26. The stock has a market cap of $79.89 billion, a PE ratio of 54.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.06.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.51% and a return on equity of 43.20%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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, Director Robin S. Hickenlooper sold 1,790 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.38, for a total value of $100,920.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,340,333.80. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Curtis E. Garner sold 15,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.05, for a total transaction of $898,537.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 457,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,115,436.20. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,290 shares of company stock valued at $1,866,023. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CMG. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 41.2% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 521 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,514,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 29.9% during the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,474,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the first quarter valued at about $220,000. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the first quarter worth about $9,221,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 4.1% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 4,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,790,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.31% of the company’s stock.

About Chipotle Mexican Grill

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.