Chipotle’s investors have been on edge the past few weeks following poor earnings, followed by an announcement that the company has voluntarily closed 43 restaurants (that have since been reopened) in the Seattle and Portland region following an E. coli outbreak in the region.
Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill lost over $70 per share on Friday after the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced six new cases of E. coli linked to Chipotle restaurants.
Apparently, more and more analysts are nervous ad well as one by one the exodus continues
Joseph Buckley of Bank of America downgraded shares of Chipotle to Underperform from Buy with a price target slashed to $470 from a previous $750.
Lynne Collier of Sterne Agee CRT downgraded shares of Chipotle to Neutral from Buy with an unchanged $766 price target.
Andrew Strelzik of BMO Capital Markets commented in a note that Chipotle may need to close its stores in the four states where an outbreak was observed.
Consensus Ratings for Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG)
| Ratings Breakdown: | 1 Sell Rating(s), 10 Hold Rating(s), 19 Buy Rating(s) |
| Consensus Rating: | Buy (Score: 2.60) |
| Consensus Price Target: | $717.15 (28.23% upside) |
Some analysts said investor reaction was overdone and that Chipotle was a good long-term bet.
“We see value in shares from current levels for investors that can look through the near-term choppiness,” William Blair analysts said.
While still a buy according to MarketBeat.com it isn’t by much
