2-Star Stocks Poised to Plunge: Chipotle Mexican Grill?

Updated

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, burrito specialist Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYS: CMG) has received a distressing two-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Chipotle's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Chipotle facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Denver (1993)

Market Cap

$10.4 billion

Industry

Restaurants

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$2.16 billion

Management

Founder/Chairman/Co-CEO Steve Ells
Co-CEO Montgomery Moran

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

21%

Cash/Debt

$444.6 million / $3.7 million

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 15% of the 2,909 members who have rated Chipotle believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bears include NewJerseyBob and All-Star naughtyguy, who is ranked in the top 5% of our community.

Just last week, NewJerseyBob just couldn't get comfortable with Chipotle's valuation: "Sooner or later the P/E will come back to earth. Might take a while, but once people come out of their burrito-induced food comas and realize the multiple is too high, this stock will correct sharply."

In fact, Chipotle trades at a particularly lofty P/E of 52. That represents a clear premium to other restaurant stocks such as McDonald's (NYS: MCD) (19), Starbucks (NAS: SBUX) (27), and Yum! Brands (NYS: YUM) (22).

CAPS member naughtyguy elaborates on the Chipotle bear case:

When they have an earnings report showing a slow down in same store revenues the stock will take a dive. I think their novelty will wear off and people will go back to real Mexican restaurants. If the regular Mex. restaurants start offering organic where will that leave [Chipotle]?

What do you think about Chipotle, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to protect your portfolio from any undue risk. Staying away from dangerous stocks is crucial to securing your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to flag them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!

Interested in another easy way to trackChipotle?Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Chipotle, Starbucks, and Yum! Brands. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Chipotle, McDonald's, Starbucks, and Yum! Brands, as well as creating a put butterfly position in Chipotle. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

Copyright © 1995 - 2011 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Advertisement