Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Shares Down 2.7% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Chipotle Mexican Grill's shares fell 2.7% to $42.30 during midday trading, with trading volume significantly down 67% from the average.
• Several analysts have lowered their price targets for Chipotle, with Wells Fargo adjusting their target from $65.00 to $60.00 while maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Chipotle's latest quarterly earnings showed $0.33 EPS, beating estimates, but revenue fell short at $3.06 billion compared to expectations of $3.11 billion.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 2.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $42.49 and last traded at $42.30. 4,686,689 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 14,032,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMG has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $61.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $68.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Chipotle Mexican Grill currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.61.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Down 2.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $56.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.05. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $50.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.35.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 13.32% and a return on equity of 43.50%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. Chipotle Mexican Grill's revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Chipotle Mexican Grill

In other news, insider Roger E. Theodoredis sold 113,875 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.70, for a total transaction of $5,659,587.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 109,815 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,457,805.50. This represents a 50.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,457,125 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $6,932,118,000 after acquiring an additional 993,798 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,827,332 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,853,302,000 after acquiring an additional 4,027,016 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 32,505,318 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,632,092,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404,798 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,659,508 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,657,193,000 after acquiring an additional 325,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 21,257,666 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,193,618,000 after acquiring an additional 595,038 shares in 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.

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