Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG)

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 73,551 call options on the company. This is an increase of 35% compared to the average daily volume of 54,594 call options.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Up 9.1%

Shares of CMG traded up $2.60 on Thursday, reaching $31.33. 42,433,016 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,084,094. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.21. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 12 month low of $27.31 and a 12 month high of $41.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.96.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last released 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 business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Chipotle Mexican Grill

In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Matthew R. Bush sold 2,675 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $765,586.25. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the second quarter valued at about $4,417,475,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,727,762 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,266,087 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 86.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,973,752 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $383,280,000 after buying an additional 5,541,385 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 30.6% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 2,541,795 shares during the period. 91.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CMG. Citigroup lowered their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $43.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price (up from $45.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.47.

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.