10 Best Restaurant Stocks to Buy Today

3. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60

Serving mouth-watering tacos and burritos, along with many other food items, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) is an operator of 3,200 fast-casual restaurants.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.’s (NYSE:CMG) stock has gained popularity in the investors’ eyes, as the number of hedge fund holdings increased from 56 in Q4 2023 to 60 in Q1 2024, taking the total invested value to a massive $5.13 billion! This is on the back of an upside potential that the stock is carrying, which equals a decent 8.74%.

Moreover, the analysts expected the company’s EPS for Q1 2024 to be $11.68, whereas it recorded an EPS of $13.37! Moreover, 47 new brand outlets opened up during the quarter, resulting in a traffic increase of 5.4%. This helped the company bag a net income of $359.3 million, which was an increase as compared to $291.6, a year ago. Moreover, around 300 new locations are planned to open up in the whole year 2024, which will improve the profitability of the company over the coming quarters. Having said this, we think TXRH is more attractively priced than CMG because Chipotle increased its revenues by only 60% since 2020 as opposed to more than 100% for TXRH and trade at a forward P/E of 56 vs. half of that amount for TXRH.