El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

Separately, Truist Financial increased their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $10.35 on Monday. El Pollo Loco has a fifty-two week low of $8.11 and a fifty-two week high of $11.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $8.96 and its 200 day moving average is $8.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $321.89 million, a P/E ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LOCO. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 797.2% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 102,257 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $996,000 after acquiring an additional 90,860 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 8.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 147,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 11,025 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 38.1% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 77,008 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 21,230 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 46.2% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 44,648 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 14,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter valued at about $302,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by 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.