El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) PT Raised to $12.00

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) had its target price hoisted by Truist Financial from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of El Pollo Loco from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

NASDAQ LOCO traded up $0.31 on Friday, reaching $10.32. 1,005,745 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 291,851. El Pollo Loco has a fifty-two week low of $8.11 and a fifty-two week high of $11.99. The firm has a market cap of $321.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.11.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $116.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.09 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.64% and a return on equity of 10.13%. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 33.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 541,441 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,846,000 after buying an additional 134,673 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter worth $1,162,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 183.7% in the third quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 46,438 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 30,068 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 122.8% in the third quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 101,393 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 55,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,759 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,138,000 after purchasing an additional 93,476 shares in the last quarter. 81.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc, develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco name. It operates and franchises restaurants located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, and Louisiana. It also licenses its brand to restaurants in the Philippines.