El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Price Target Increased to $12.00 by Analysts at Truist Financial

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) had its price target upped by Truist Financial from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded El Pollo Loco from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th.

El Pollo Loco Stock Up 3.1 %

NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $10.32 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.11. El Pollo Loco has a fifty-two week low of $8.11 and a fifty-two week high of $11.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.78 million, a P/E ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.44.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $116.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.09 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.64% and a return on equity of 10.13%. El Pollo Loco’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in El Pollo Loco by 285.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 6,176 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 1,074.7% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the third quarter worth about $97,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the fourth quarter worth about $111,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

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.