El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Separately, Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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, August 2nd.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of LOCO opened at $12.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $381.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 1.49. El Pollo Loco has a twelve month low of $8.11 and a twelve month high of $14.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.63.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 10.33%. The business had revenue of $122.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari bought 62,362 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.47 per share, with a total value of $777,654.14. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 87,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,404.14. This trade represents a 200.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders acquired a total of 189,177 shares of company stock valued at $2,483,158 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 321.8% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 145,498 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 111,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 5.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,323,373 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,890,000 after buying an additional 67,368 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 797.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 102,257 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 90,860 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 197.2% in the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 491,244 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,785,000 after buying an additional 325,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at $1,735,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

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.