Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Stock

Key Points

• Mizuho raised its price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill to $41 from $40 and kept an outperform rating, implying about 16% upside from the prior close.
• Other Wall Street firms remain mostly positive, with 23 Buy ratings and 11 Hold ratings overall; MarketBeat shows a consensus Moderate Buy and average target price of $45.13.
• Chipotle recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.24 per share, matching estimates, while revenue of $3.09 billion slightly topped forecasts and rose 7.4% year over year.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Mizuho from $40.00 to $41.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Mizuho's price target indicates a potential upside of 16.08% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CMG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $35.00 in a report on Friday, June 5th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research raised Chipotle Mexican Grill from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Chipotle Mexican Grill from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Argus raised Chipotle Mexican Grill from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.13.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Up 0.2%

CMG opened at $35.32 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $45.30 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.97. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a twelve month low of $28.03 and a twelve month high of $56.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.97.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.24. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.07 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 49.64% and a net margin of 11.96%.Chipotle Mexican Grill's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 144,588,220 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,349,764,000 after purchasing an additional 18,660,882 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 101,688,010 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,762,457,000 after buying an additional 13,843,222 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 58,447,867 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,162,572,000 after buying an additional 9,237,720 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,294,212 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,675,895,000 after acquiring an additional 6,796,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth approximately $711,837,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.30% of the company's stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile

Chipotle Mexican Grill is a fast-casual restaurant company known for its Mexican-inspired menu of burritos, bowls, tacos and salads. Founded in 1993 by Steve Ells, the chain emphasizes fresh, customizable meals made from a limited menu of core ingredients and a focus on ingredient quality. Chipotle operates primarily company-owned restaurants and offers dine-in, takeout, catering and delivery through its own digital platforms and third-party partners.

The company is headquartered in Newport Beach, California, and traces its roots to Denver, Colorado.

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