Freedom Capital Upgrades El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) to Strong-Buy

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Freedom Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on LOCO. DA Davidson increased their price target on El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.88.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of LOCO opened at $16.68 on Wednesday. El Pollo Loco has a one year low of $8.98 and a one year high of $17.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $507.91 million, a P/E ratio of 17.02 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.76.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $126.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.02 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 11.04%. Sell-side analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 28th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total transaction of $1,658,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,800,000 shares in the company, valued at $63,004,000. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 222,600 shares of company stock valued at $3,715,166 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 4.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 287,143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 13,095 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 197.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,008,000 after purchasing an additional 451,575 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in El Pollo Loco by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 188,519 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,942,000 after buying an additional 12,964 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the first quarter worth about $221,000. Finally, Creative Planning bought a new position in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

More El Pollo Loco News

Here are the key news stories impacting El Pollo Loco this week:

• Positive Sentiment: El Pollo Loco is expanding its restaurant footprint, with first-time openings in Idaho and a new location in Lubbock, Texas, plus opening-day promotions that could help raise brand awareness and drive sales. El Pollo Loco Opens in Idaho for First Time
• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Capital reportedly issued bullish ratings on El Pollo Loco, adding to the view that the stock may still have upside after its recent operating improvement. Dutch Bros, First Watch, and El Pollo Loco land bull ratings from Freedom Capital
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary is questioning how to trade LOCO after first-quarter earnings, but the company had already posted a solid beat on EPS and revenue in its last report, so the market may be weighing valuation rather than fundamentals alone. El Pollo Loco (LOCO): Buy, sell, or hold post Q1 earnings?
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s recent earnings and buyback authorization remain supportive longer-term signals, including a 40 million dollar repurchase plan that may help offset share-price weakness. Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner: El Pollo Loco’s Turnaround Recipe
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold additional shares this week, following earlier large sales, which can pressure sentiment because investors often read insider selling as a sign of reduced confidence or profit-taking. Insider Selling: El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sells 22,600 Shares

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.