Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) to Underperform

Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) was downgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $120.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $100.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential downside of 11.03% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on SHAK. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Shake Shack from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. BTIG Research downgraded Shake Shack from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Shake Shack from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Shake Shack from $120.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Shake Shack from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.86.

Shake Shack Stock Down 0.0%

Shake Shack stock opened at $134.87 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $129.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.88. Shake Shack has a 1-year low of $72.93 and a 1-year high of $144.65. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of 481.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.77.

Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.02). Shake Shack had a return on equity of 8.45% and a net margin of 0.97%. The company had revenue of $320.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Shake Shack will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Shake Shack

In related news, CFO Katherine Irene Fogertey sold 670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.03, for a total transaction of $93,820.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,550,274.85. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel Harris Meyer sold 14,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.31, for a total transaction of $1,992,402.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 337,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,422,535.04. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,391 shares of company stock worth $11,869,925 in the last 90 days. 9.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Shake Shack by 157.3% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,642 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Shake Shack by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Shake Shack during the 4th quarter valued at about $260,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Shake Shack by 60.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 2,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Shake Shack by 53.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.07% of the company’s stock.

About Shake Shack

Shake Shack Inc owns, operates, and licenses Shake Shack restaurants (Shacks) in the United States and internationally. Its Shacks offers hamburgers, chicken, hot dogs, crinkle cut fries, shakes, frozen custard, beer, wine, and other products. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in New York, New York.