Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) Short Interest Update

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 17,590,000 shares, a decline of 23.7% from the February 13th total of 23,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cfra raised shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $73.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chipotle Mexican Grill has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.85.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

NYSE CMG traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $49.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,955,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,097,346. The company has a market cap of $67.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.94. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 12 month low of $47.98 and a 12 month high of $69.26.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 42.92% and a net margin of 13.56%. As a group, research analysts predict that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ethos Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 1,110.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 91.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. It sells food and beverages through offering burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos, and salads. The company also provides delivery and related services its app and website. It has operations in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.