Janney Pounds Table For Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.'s CMG long-term earnings potential could eventually make its current share price look cheap in hindsight, an analyst said Thursday.

Janney Capital's Mark Kalinowski metaphorically pounded the table for the Mexican food restaurant chain. Kalinowski thinks the shares could double in value in six years.

Chipotle traded Thursday afternoon at $673.0 a share, nearly unchanged.

But the stock is up more than 25 percent year to date and among 25 analysts, 15 maintain a Buy rating and 10 are at hold. Kalinowski is in the latter category.

Citing "industry sources," Kalinowski raised his third-quarter earnings estimate to $3.85 a share, $0.04 above the Wall Street consensus. Chipotle is slated to post earnings October 20.

"Chipotle is no small concept, mind you, but rather the 17th-largest restaurant chain in the U.S.," Kalinowski said.

For 2014 Kalinowski expects the company to earn $13.73 a share, $0.06 higher than the average analyst estimate.

Kalinowski's price target is $800 a share, or 14 percent higher than the consensus.