Sanctuary Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. $LOCO

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 56,924 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $789,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 85.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 89.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 3rd quarter worth about $97,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter worth about $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.74, for a total value of $1,255,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,560,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,601,999.96. The trade was a 2.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 439,546 shares of company stock valued at $7,418,740. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Freedom Capital raised shares of El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, El Pollo Loco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.88.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

El Pollo Loco stock opened at $15.93 on Monday. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.98 and a 12 month high of $17.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $485.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 0.78.

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

El Pollo Loco announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About El Pollo Loco

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.