The first quarter marked the start of Chipotle’s large-scale marketing campaign in an attempt to move past the food-illness outbreaks that had wracked the company. (NYSE:CMG) was upgraded by analysts at Vetr from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, AnalystRatings.Net reports. When considering if perhaps the stock is under or overvalued, the average price target is $462.33 which is 3.7% above where the stock opened today. If Chipotle is able to do what every other affected company has been able to do as well – overcome this temporary headwind – Chipotle’s current valuation looks rather low, which makes Chipotle attractive for those willing to speculate on improvements over the next quarters. That’s the straight second quarter drop for the company. Chipotle shares are down 30.1% for the past year, while the S&P 500 is down 1.2% for the same period.
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“While the company took remedial steps immediately following the largest E. coli incident, and has implemented enhanced food safety protocols, its response was arguably reactive, occurring only after the problems received widespread media coverage during the company’s fourth quarter in 2015”, ISS wrote in its report. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 15.1% in the first quarter.
The quarter is the worst in the company’s history.
Chipotle’s restaurant level operating margin was 6.8 percent, down from 27.5 percent in the year-earlier quarter, as weak sales, and costs related to food giveaways, safety testing and waste dinged results. First-quarter revenue plunged 23.4%.
Chipotle reiterated that 2016 will be an “investment year”. RidgeWorth Capital Management LLC now owns 16,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,152,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter.
Shares of Chipotle were down almost 5 percent at $424.75 in after-market trading. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 1-year low of $399.14 and a 1-year high of $758.61. Shares are well below their 200-day moving average now sitting at $586.23.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.’s most recent results show that the company has yet to turn the page on the food-safety crisis that has dogged it for half a year.
In the past 90 days, the profit estimate had fallen from $2.14 a share to a loss of $0.95 a share.
Revenue for the quarter clocked in at $834.5 million, falling short of analysts’ expectations of $868 million and declining 23.4% from the comparable quarter past year.
Shares of the company, down 42% from its high in August, fell 3.1% to $432 after hours.
Deutsche Bank has a Sell rating with a $360 price target. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Thursday, January 14th. The stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $533.61.
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Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. develops and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants, which serve a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls (a burrito without the tortilla) and salads.
