Shake Shack Founder Danny Meyer Scooped Up Stock

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A Shake Shack restaurant in Miami Beach, Fla. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Shake Shack stock has slid this year, and founder and Chairman Danny Meyer bought more shares of the burger chain.

Shake Shack stock (ticker: SHAK) has dropped 3% in 2022, compared with a 17% decline in the S&P 500 index. A wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss, reported in February, sent shares tumbling. The first-quarter report in May showed a narrower-than-expected loss, but a tepid outlook.

In June, Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti said at an investor conference that costs were soaring. “Inflation is real, and it’s not going to get any better anytime soon in the restaurant business,” he said.

Meyer paid $831,235 on July 11 for 21,000 Shake Shack shares, at an average price of $39.58 each, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He bought the shares through automated transactions in a trust he controls. Meyer now owns 1.9 million Shake Shack shares through trusts, and another 4,000 in a personal account. One of Meyer’s trusts owns 1.9 million Class B shares, which don’t trade publicly but have the same voting rights as Class A shares.

Shake Shack didn’t respond to a request to make Meyer available.

The company considers burger chains In-N-Out and Five Guys as competitors, according to its latest proxy.

Credit Suisse analyst Lauren Silberman cut her target price on Shake Shack stock to $72 from $80 in May, after the company’s first-quarter report. She cited “limited near-term top- and bottom-line visibility” in retaining her Neutral rating.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.