Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) versus Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) Head to Head Survey

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) and Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Chipotle Mexican Grill and Shake Shack’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chipotle Mexican Grill	12.88%	47.99%	17.15%
Shake Shack	3.16%	11.08%	3.23%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Chipotle Mexican Grill and Shake Shack, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chipotle Mexican Grill	1	11	23	0	2.63
Shake Shack	1	14	10	1	2.42

Chipotle Mexican Grill currently has a consensus price target of $47.37, suggesting a potential upside of 43.69%. Shake Shack has a consensus price target of $116.64, suggesting a potential upside of 31.99%. Given Chipotle Mexican Grill’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Chipotle Mexican Grill is more favorable than Shake Shack.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Chipotle Mexican Grill and Shake Shack”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chipotle Mexican Grill	$11.93 billion	3.60	$1.54 billion	$1.14	28.92
Shake Shack	$1.45 billion	2.61	$45.72 million	$1.09	81.07

Chipotle Mexican Grill has higher revenue and earnings than Shake Shack. Chipotle Mexican Grill is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Shake Shack, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Chipotle Mexican Grill has a beta of 1, indicating that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Shake Shack has a beta of 1.73, indicating that its share price is 73% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.3% of Chipotle Mexican Grill shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.1% of Shake Shack shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Chipotle Mexican Grill shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.5% of Shake Shack shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Chipotle Mexican Grill beats Shake Shack on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. It sells food and beverages through offering burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos, and salads. The company also provides delivery and related services its app and website. It has operations in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.

About Shake Shack

Shake Shack Inc. owns, operates, and licenses Shake Shack restaurants (Shacks) in the United States and internationally. Its Shacks offers hamburgers, chicken, hot dogs, crinkle cut fries, shakes, frozen custard, beer, wine, and other products. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in New York, New York.