Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) Short Interest Up 34.8% in April

Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,460,000 shares, a growth of 34.8% from the March 31st total of 4,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 909,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.0 days. Currently, 9.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Portillo’s

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Portillo’s by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,572,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,300,000 after buying an additional 286,618 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Portillo’s by 241.0% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 2,694 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Portillo’s by 16.6% in the first quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 3,001 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Portillo’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,074,000. Finally, Lakewood Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Portillo’s by 120.5% during the 1st quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 112,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,590,000 after acquiring an additional 61,282 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Portillo’s Stock Down 0.2 %

PTLO stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $12.18. 97,368 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 880,131. Portillo’s has a 52-week low of $11.53 and a 52-week high of $23.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $888.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.39, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.37.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $187.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.95 million. Portillo’s had a return on equity of 4.79% and a net margin of 2.71%. The company’s revenue was up 24.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Portillo’s will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PTLO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Portillo’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Stephens started coverage on Portillo’s in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.43.

Portillo’s Company Profile

Portillo's Inc owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut French fries, homemade chocolate cakes, and chocolate cake shake. It offers its products through its website, application, and certain third-party platforms.