Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $28.73, but opened at $30.46. Chipotle Mexican Grill shares last traded at $30.9640, with a volume of 8,667,368 shares changing hands.

Chipotle Mexican Grill News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Chipotle Mexican Grill this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue rose 9.6% to $3.29 billion, in line with expectations, while comparable-restaurant sales increased 2.1% and transactions grew for the third consecutive quarter. Value offers and limited-time menu items helped attract diners. Chipotle beats quarterly sales expectations on resilient demand
• Positive Sentiment: Investors responded favorably to signs of a traffic recovery following earlier food-safety concerns. New menu launches, refreshed loyalty benefits and plans to accelerate technology and menu innovation are supporting the turnaround. Chipotle Sales Beat as New Chicken, Chips Bring Diners Back
• Positive Sentiment: Chipotle opened 84 company-owned restaurants during the quarter, and its loyalty program surpassed 24 million members, providing additional long-term growth and customer-engagement potential. Chipotle: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts maintained bullish ratings, including DA Davidson and BTIG Research at $45 targets and Oppenheimer at a $51 target, implying substantial upside based on the supplied reference price. Oppenheimer analyst rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed: Citigroup kept a Buy rating while cutting its target to $41, whereas BNP Paribas Exane retained Neutral and reduced its target to $36. Bernstein also lowered its target to $43 from $50. Citigroup price target
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings were $0.27 per share, below the $0.29 consensus and last year’s $0.29, as higher operating costs, beef prices and increased protein usage pressured margins. Chipotle Q3 earnings miss estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Management’s outlook calls for only modestly higher sales, leaving investors dependent on the fourth-quarter brisket launch, continued traffic gains and successful cost management to sustain the recovery. The rest of Chipotle’s year hinges on brisket

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 price objective (down from $36.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.47.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Up 9.1%

The firm has a market cap of $39.65 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $33.20 and its 200-day moving average is $34.21.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 11.43% and a return on equity of 54.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Matthew R. Bush sold 2,675 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 21,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $765,586.25. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company 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 bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the second quarter worth approximately $4,417,475,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 19.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,478,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $527,469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,727,762 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 23.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 11,980,192 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $383,486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,266,087 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 86.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,973,752 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $383,280,000 after acquiring an additional 5,541,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 30.6% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,845,627 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $368,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,541,795 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.30% of the company’s stock.

About Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc (NYSE: CMG) operates a chain of fast-casual restaurants focused on Mexican-inspired food. Its menu includes burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, quesadillas and salads, with options such as chicken, steak, barbacoa, carnitas, sofritas and vegetables. The company emphasizes preparing food in its restaurants from ingredients it describes as responsibly sourced, including meats raised with attention to animal welfare and produce from selected suppliers.

Founded by Steve Ells in 1993, Chipotle opened its first restaurant in Denver, Colorado.