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Chipotle Mexican Grill is getting closer to its 50-for-1 stock split on Wednesday that will be one of the biggest in history for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The June 26 split, which will be a first in Chipotle’s 30 year-history, will make the company’s stock more affordable for investors, who currently face a $3,186 price tag for one share.
The stock split will not alter the existing investment for shareholders, but it “will make our stock more accessible to our employees as well as broader range of investors,” Jack Hartung, the Mexican chain’s chief financial and administrative officer, said in a statement in June.
Shareholders as of June 18 can expect to receive an additional 49 shares for each share held, which will be distributed after the markets close on June 25, the company said. On June 26, share trading on a post-split basis will start.
As part of the split, Chipotle also said that it would offer a special one-time equity grant for restaurant general managers and crew members that have worked at the chain for over 20 years.
“With this historic decision, we’ll be better able to reward our team members and empower them to have ownership in our company,” Hartung said.
Chipotle’s first announced the stock split decision in March. At that time, Brian Niccol, Chipotle’s CEO, said that the company had been testing a guacamole prepping robot, dubbed “Autocado.” In April, Niccol said that the company planned to deploy the robot at some of its busier locations. He also noted that even with menu prices increasing by 7%, customers were still stocking up on burritos and bowls filled with braised beef barbacoa and al pastor chicken.
Even so, the company has had to deal with its own share of social media and internal woes. Also in April, Chipotle told its employees to choose another protein besides chicken, in an effort to keep up with the surge in demand for the popular item. In May, Chipotle’s Niccol took to social media to fend off claims that the chain was skimping on its portion sizes.