Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Stock Price

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) had its price objective decreased by research analysts at Citigroup from $45.00 to $43.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Citigroup’s price target indicates a potential upside of 44.06% from the stock’s previous close.

CMG has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Chipotle Mexican Grill presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.59.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Down 0.1%

Chipotle Mexican Grill stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $29.85. The stock had a trading volume of 25,585,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,779,084. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.77 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.96. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 12 month low of $28.03 and a 12 month high of $42.74.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 54.65% and a net margin of 11.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Chipotle Mexican Grill

In related news, insider Matthew R. Bush sold 2,675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $765,586.25. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,417,475,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,478,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $527,469,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727,762 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew 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 valued at $383,486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,266,087 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the second quarter valued at approximately $383,483,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 30.6% during the second 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 valued at $368,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541,795 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.30% 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.