Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Stock Falls 4.8% on Analyst Downgrade

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)’s share price traded down 4.8% on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $43.00 to $41.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Chipotle Mexican Grill traded as low as $28.35 and last traded at $28.2390. 3,182,624 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 17,698,928 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.65.

CMG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 target price (down from $42.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Matthew R. Bush sold 2,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $95,631.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at $765,586.25. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting 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

Institutional Trading of Chipotle Mexican Grill

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMG. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 12,708 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. ANB Bank boosted its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 5.8% in the first quarter. ANB Bank now owns 6,317 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 10.9% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,759 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 2.9% in the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 13,275 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 7.2% in the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,434 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.30% of the company’s stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

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

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last announced its earnings results 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 business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile

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.