Chipotle stock has shed 39% since May
Analysts are weighing in on burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG), healthcare firm GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK), and gun maker American Outdoor Brands Corp (NASDAQ:AOBC). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on shares of CMG, GSK, and AOBC.
Chipotle Stock Heads Toward Lowest Weekly Close Since 2013
Chipotle Mexican Grill stock is down 4.4% to trade at $303.36, after Cowen and Company downgraded the shares to "underperform" from "market perform," and slashed its price target by $120 to $250 --- 34% below the average 12-month price target of $381.68. The brokerage firm said perception of quality in its proprietary survey was at levels not seen since the restaurant's food safety catastrophe in late 2015.
It's been an ugly stretch for CMG stock, which has shed 39% since hitting an annual high of $499 in mid-May. This is just the latest in a string of negative analyst notes, too, and today's drop today has the shares on track for their lowest weekly close since January 2013.
Nevertheless, in the options pits, long calls have been unusually popular of late. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), CMG sports a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.46, which ranks 3 percentage points from an annual high.
Morgan Stanley Thinks SNY is More Attractive Than GSK
GlaxoSmithKline stock is down 0.6% to trade at $39.90, after Morgan Stanley downgraded the pharma name to "underweight" from "equal weight " and cut its price target to $20 from $22, saying rival Sanofi (SNY) is more attractive at the moment. After forming a top near $44.50 in June, GSK stock pulled back to the $38.60 region. The shares recently bounced from here, but are now struggling against the round $40 mark. Most analysts are upbeat on GSK, though, with five of nine covering brokerages rating it a "strong buy."
Earnings Miss Prompts Price-Target Cuts For AOBC
American Outdoor Brands stock is down 15.2% to trade at $14.34 -- earlier hitting a two-year low of $13.78 -- after the company reported
earnings that fell short of expectations, and lowered its full-year forecast. As a result, no fewer than four brokerages cut their price targets on the gun stock, including Craig-Hallum to $15 from $23.
Today's negative price action is nothing new for AOBC stock, which has shed 31.9% year-to-date, and is now 50% off its 52-week high of $28.57 -- tagged on Nov. 8, the day of the U.S. presidential election. More recently, the shares have been unable to capitalize on a round of short covering, with short interest down 17.7% in the two most recent reporting periods. This points to underlying weakness in AOBC shares.