Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Now Covered by BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) in a research note published on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $37.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.13.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of CMG stock opened at $31.18 on Monday. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 12 month low of $29.75 and a 12 month high of $58.42. The stock has a market cap of $40.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.87.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 47.99%. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chipotle Mexican Grill

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 122.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 87,844,788 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,442,645,000 after purchasing an additional 48,398,628 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter worth approximately $711,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 144,588,220 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,349,764,000 after purchasing an additional 18,660,882 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 38,497,927 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,509,043,000 after purchasing an additional 11,471,658 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 206.4% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 14,062,158 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $520,300,000 after buying an additional 9,473,120 shares in the last quarter. 91.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile

Chipotle Mexican Grill is a fast-casual restaurant company known for its Mexican-inspired menu of burritos, bowls, tacos and salads. Founded in 1993 by Steve Ells, the chain emphasizes fresh, customizable meals made from a limited menu of core ingredients and a focus on ingredient quality. Chipotle operates primarily company-owned restaurants and offers dine-in, takeout, catering and delivery through its own digital platforms and third-party partners.

The company is headquartered in Newport Beach, California, and traces its roots to Denver, Colorado.