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Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) ended Wednesday 0.3% higher at $65.86/share in its first trading day after its 50-for-1 stock split, one of the biggest in Wall Street history. Its shares rose 0.5% in light premarket trade on Thursday.
Shareholders received 49 additional shares for each share held, while a one-time equity grant was offered to general managers and long-serving staff.
“Although the split will not influence shareholders’ economic value, a split will make Chipotle’s (CMG) stock more investable to smaller market participants,” Pearl Gray Equity and Research noted in March.
Wall Street analysts are largely bullish on the stock, given Chipotle’s (CMG) success in gaining market share and scaling its business. But its SA Quant rating is Hold.
A week ago, before the stock split, Investing Group Leader Daniel Jones said he was neutral on Chipotle (CMG) as its shares were too expensive.
“Long term, I fully expect Chipotle (CMG) will do just fine from an operational standpoint,” he said. “Whether the company will continue to generate strong returns for investors or not is a different story.”
Other upcoming stock splits – Williams-Sonoma (WSM) [2-for-1] in July; Broadcom (AVGO) [10-for-1] in July; Lam Research (LRCX) [10-for-1] in October.