Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) was upgraded by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $35.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their prior price target of $38.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 24.76% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CMG. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Mizuho upgraded Chipotle Mexican Grill from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, March 20th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chipotle Mexican Grill presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.48.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of CMG stock opened at $28.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $35.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.24. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 1-year low of $28.03 and a 1-year high of $58.42.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.24. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 49.64% and a net margin of 11.96%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Chipotle Mexican Grill

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMG. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 122.7% in 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 buying an additional 48,398,628 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth $711,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 14.8% during 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 grew its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 42.4% during 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 shares of 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 worth $520,300,000 after purchasing an additional 9,473,120 shares during the period. 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.