El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Benchmark reiterated a hold rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

El Pollo Loco Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ LOCO opened at $13.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.35. El Pollo Loco has a 52 week low of $8.11 and a 52 week high of $14.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $425.14 million, a P/E ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.59 and its 200 day moving average is $10.80.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 5.76%. The firm had revenue of $122.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari acquired 21,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.13 per share, with a total value of $279,997.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 159,241 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,834.33. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have purchased a total of 189,177 shares of company stock valued at $2,483,158 over the last ninety days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LOCO. Quarry LP acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,735,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 384.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 175,670 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,987,000 after acquiring an additional 139,375 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 49.8% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 217,922 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after acquiring an additional 72,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 7.5% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,606 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.