Chipotle is making investors really sick

Matt Krantz | USA TODAY

Chipotle (CMG) closed another location this week – this time in Boston - raising more questions on whether consumers are getting sick on the food. One thing's for sure: Investors are getting sick on the stock.

Shares of the burrito chain – which had been one of the hottest stocks going since late 2012- has turned into a investment hazard. Shares are down $12.62 , or 2.3%, Tuesday to $539.13, knocking them down a crushing 29% from their higher point over the past year.

The company has been hammered by a series of complaints associated with allegations of food safety including E. coli contamination, with the Centers for Disease Control and Preventing saying had spread to to six states. The latest episode, connected with 80 Boston College students becoming ill after eating at Chipotle, is likely connected with norovirus and not E. coli, the company says.

No matter what's causing the sickness, Chipotle shares have lost their mojo. Shares had roughly tripled in value between November 2012 and August 2015 as investors gorged on the company's rapid growth. But recent events have investors wondering if fears of food safety could cool the company's expansion.

Analysts have been aggressively cutting their forecasts for not just the company's stock price - but also profit. The company is no expected to earn an adjusted $2.63 a share in the current quarter, which is down 39% from what they expected just a month ago, says S&P Capital IQ. Wall Street doesn't see this as a fleeting issue either. The estimate for adjusted profit in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2016 has also been cut by nearly a quarter.

Here's what really hurts: The stock's momentum is broken and the darling glow is gone. A month ago, analysts thought the stock would be worth $744.44 a share in 18 months, says S&P Capital IQ. Now - analysts can't slash their forecasts fast enough and think the stock will be worth $576.68 in 18 months.

That's enough to make investors - who piled into the stock - sick.