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.

LOCO has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Benchmark reissued a hold rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of LOCO opened at $13.85 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.82. The firm has a market cap of $430.74 million, a PE ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. El Pollo Loco has a 1-year low of $8.11 and a 1-year high of $14.25.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $122.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.39 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 5.76%. El Pollo Loco’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at El Pollo Loco

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari bought 21,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.13 per share, for a total transaction of $279,997.25. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 159,241 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,834.33. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 34.1% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the first quarter worth about $106,000. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,606 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

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.