El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. $LOCO Shares Acquired by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 26.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,419 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in El Pollo Loco were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 4,840.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 2,614 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 235.6% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,389 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 5,187 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 27.3% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,722 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the fourth quarter worth about $107,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the fourth quarter worth about $165,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

El Pollo Loco Stock Up 0.8%

El Pollo Loco stock opened at $10.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.29 and a 52 week high of $14.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $10.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.42. The firm has a market cap of $320.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 1.01.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 9.83% and a net margin of 5.15%.The company had revenue of $125.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.24 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. El Pollo Loco’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.00.

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.