Chipotle Mexican Grill’s (CMG) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $75.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 30.59% from the company’s previous close.

CMG has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.99.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

NYSE:CMG opened at $57.43 on Tuesday. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 12 month low of $46.29 and a 12 month high of $69.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.25 billion, a PE ratio of 53.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.72.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 43.20% and a net margin of 13.51%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Laurie Schalow sold 4,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 185,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,078,337.92. The trade was a 2.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5,897.8% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 48,942 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,820,000 after purchasing an additional 48,126 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,256,000. Optas LLC increased its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 318.5% during the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 17,160 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 13,060 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,513,000. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 3rd quarter valued at $758,000. 91.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.