Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $111.23, but opened at $127.79. Shake Shack shares last traded at $123.87, with a volume of 1,157,170 shares.

The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.01. Shake Shack had a return on equity of 6.28% and a net margin of 0.68%. The business had revenue of $328.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.02 million.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SHAK has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Shake Shack from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Shake Shack from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $154.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Shake Shack from $143.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Shake Shack from $128.00 to $110.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Shake Shack from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $159.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $125.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shake Shack

In other news, CFO Katherine Irene Fogertey sold 642 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,223,894.67. This trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 9.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shake Shack

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SHAK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Shake Shack by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,426,015 shares of the company's stock worth $574,497,000 after acquiring an additional 49,883 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Shake Shack by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,452,736 shares of the company's stock worth $149,937,000 after acquiring an additional 49,324 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Shake Shack by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,245,093 shares of the company's stock worth $161,613,000 after acquiring an additional 292,348 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Shake Shack by 68.3% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 946,350 shares of the company's stock worth $97,673,000 after acquiring an additional 384,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Shake Shack by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 894,286 shares of the company's stock worth $116,078,000 after acquiring an additional 134,475 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.07% of the company's stock.

Shake Shack Stock Down 11.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $121.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.27. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 640.94 and a beta of 1.86.

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.