Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Given Outperform Rating at Raymond James

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Raymond James in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $70.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $67.00. Raymond James’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.47% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $54.00 to $65.40 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.29.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

CMG traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.24. 5,932,178 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,234,524. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 1 year low of $35.37 and a 1 year high of $69.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.48 billion, a PE ratio of 66.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $127.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.98.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 43.74%. Sell-side analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Roger E. Theodoredis sold 125,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.29, for a total value of $7,939,579.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 54,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,433,417.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Scott Boatwright sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total transaction of $3,509,176.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 120,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,694,665.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Roger E. Theodoredis sold 125,450 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.29, for a total transaction of $7,939,579.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 54,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,433,417.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 550,750 shares of company stock valued at $35,023,769 over the last quarter. 1.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,521,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 13.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,545 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,662,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $575,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 62.4% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,797,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1,043.0% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 10,847 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,870,000 after purchasing an additional 9,898 shares during the period. 91.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.