Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. $CMG Stock: Krilogy Financial LLC Increases Position

Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) by 280.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,350 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,585 shares during the quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC’s holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $1,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 15,596 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 2.5% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 12,708 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. ANB Bank raised its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5.8% during the first quarter. ANB Bank now owns 6,317 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 10.9% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,759 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 13,275 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 91.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Chipotle Mexican Grill

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 equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (down from $45.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Chipotle Mexican Grill from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.47.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Performance

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock traded up $2.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $31.33. The company had a trading volume of 42,432,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,084,094. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.20 and a 200 day moving average of $34.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.96. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.31 and a 52-week high of $41.42.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Matthew R. Bush sold 2,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $95,631.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $765,586.25. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.45% 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.