Investors Buy Large Volume of El Pollo Loco Call Options (NASDAQ:LOCO)

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 4,826 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 2,994% compared to the average daily volume of 156 call options.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

Shares of LOCO opened at $10.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $312.11 million, a PE ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 1.44. El Pollo Loco has a 12 month low of $8.11 and a 12 month high of $11.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.83.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $116.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.09 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.07% and a net margin of 5.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in El Pollo Loco by 285.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 6,176 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in El Pollo Loco by 1,074.7% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $97,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter valued at about $111,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LOCO. StockNews.com cut El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday.

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.