El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

LOCO has been the topic of several other reports. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Monday, March 10th.

El Pollo Loco Stock Down 0.8 %

LOCO stock opened at $9.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.37 million, a P/E ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.35. El Pollo Loco has a 52 week low of $8.17 and a 52 week high of $14.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 5.11%. The business had revenue of $114.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 million. Equities analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,533,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,695,000 after acquiring an additional 266,908 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 332.2% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 289,739 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,344,000 after purchasing an additional 222,704 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 392.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 228,816 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after buying an additional 182,366 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 54.0% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 453,422 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,232,000 after acquiring an additional 159,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter worth $1,146,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.