Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) PT Raised to $780 at SunTrust
SunTrust analyst Jake Bartlett raised the price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) to $780.00 (from $770.00) while maintaining a Buy rating.
The analyst commented, "1Q19 SSS (+9.9% vs. our +9.5% est. and consensus of +7.3%) reaffirm our view that CMG is in the early stage of a strong sales recovery (+19.0% 3yr SSS through '21), which will drive strong restaurant margin expansion (+150bps in 1Q19) and EPS growth (38% CAGR through '21). While we expect incentive comp to crimp operating margin expansion in '19 (+160bps), we estimate strong G&A leverage in '20, contributing to 250bps of operating margin expansion. We are lowering our '19 EPS est., but are increasing our '20 est. and PT to $780, from $770."