Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida Makes New Investment in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. $CMG

Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida purchased a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 29,073 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $929,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMG. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.30% of the company’s stock.

Chipotle Mexican Grill News Summary

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

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $95,631.25. Following the transaction, the insider owned 21,415 shares in the company, valued at $765,586.25. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Gordon Haskett cut their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Thursday. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.47.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CMG traded up $2.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $31.33. 42,432,740 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,084,094. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.31 and a 1 year high of $41.42. The firm has a market cap of $39.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.21.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 54.65% and a net margin of 11.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chipotle Mexican Grill 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.