Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) gapped up prior to trading 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.02 million.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on SHAK shares. Wedbush raised their price target on Shake Shack from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upgraded Shake Shack from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Shake Shack from $143.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Shake Shack from $128.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Shake Shack from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shake Shack

In other Shake Shack news, CFO Katherine Irene Fogertey sold 642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.51, for a total value 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 trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Shake Shack

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Shake Shack by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,518,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Shake Shack by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Shake Shack by 0.4% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Shake Shack by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 13,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Shake Shack by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.07% of the company’s stock.

Shake Shack Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $121.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.27. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings 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.