El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

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

Separately, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $12.22 on Thursday. El Pollo Loco has a one year low of $8.15 and a one year high of $14.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $365.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 1.49.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $120.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.03 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 5.76%. The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at El Pollo Loco

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari acquired 62,362 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.47 per share, for a total transaction of $777,654.14. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 87,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,404.14. This trade represents a 200.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders bought 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 46.2% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 44,648 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 14,104 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in El Pollo Loco by 38.1% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 77,008 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 21,230 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in El Pollo Loco by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 147,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,434,000 after buying an additional 11,025 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 90,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 321.8% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 145,498 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,417,000 after buying an additional 111,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

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.