Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) Stock

Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SHAK. Barclays raised shares of Shake Shack from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $102.00 price target (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Shake Shack in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Shake Shack from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Shake Shack in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Shake Shack from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $122.89.

Shake Shack Stock Performance

Shares of Shake Shack stock traded down $4.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $128.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,470,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,133,100. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 756.53, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.89. Shake Shack has a 12-month low of $64.16 and a 12-month high of $139.89.

Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $316.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.03 million. Shake Shack had a net margin of 0.68% and a return on equity of 6.28%. Shake Shack's revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Shake Shack will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Shake Shack news, CFO Katherine Irene Fogertey sold 642 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.51, for a total transaction of $88,281.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,717 shares in the company, valued at $4,223,894.67. This represents a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel Harris Meyer sold 22,691 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.47, for a total transaction of $2,824,348.77. Following the sale, the director now owns 437,646 shares in the company, valued at $54,473,797.62. This trade represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,333 shares of company stock valued at $6,566,330. 9.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Shake Shack

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Shake Shack by 4.5% during the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,395 shares of the company's stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Shake Shack by 0.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,398 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Shake Shack by 1.1% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Shake Shack by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Shake Shack by 1.5% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 13,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,372,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 86.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shake Shack Company Profile

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.