El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Receives $12.88 Average Price Target from Analysts

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.3750.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LOCO shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of El Pollo Loco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, DA Davidson set a $11.00 price target on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Friday, March 13th.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

El Pollo Loco stock opened at $13.88 on Friday. El Pollo Loco has a twelve month low of $8.29 and a twelve month high of $14.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $12.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.27. The company has a market cap of $415.84 million, a PE ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 0.88.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.04. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The firm had revenue of $123.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.18 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in El Pollo Loco by 648.3% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 152,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,117,000 after buying an additional 132,351 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at about $945,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at about $112,000. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at about $149,000. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at about $123,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ: LOCO) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in Mexican-style fire-grilled chicken and complementary menu offerings. The company’s signature product is its marinated, flame-grilled chicken, which is prepared in an open-flame rotisserie and served in a variety of formats including tacos, burritos, bowls and salads. In addition to its core chicken offerings, El Pollo Loco menu items feature fresh-made salsas, guacamole, sides such as charro beans and fresh tortillas, as well as a selection of beverages and desserts.

Founded in 1975 in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, by Juan Francisco Ochoa, the concept expanded into the United States in 1980 with its first U.S.