Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The company traded as high as $7.02 and last traded at $6.9750, with a volume of 852,184 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.64.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PTLO. Stephens increased their price target on Portillo’s from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird upgraded Portillo’s to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Portillo’s from $5.50 to $4.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Portillo’s in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Portillo’s from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Portillo’s news, Director I Jr purchased 65,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.59 per share, with a total value of $299,979.45. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 551,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,532,624.30. This represents a 13.44% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Portillo’s

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Engaged Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Portillo’s by 124.3% during the 1st quarter. Engaged Capital LLC now owns 3,442,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,908,000 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Portillo’s by 12.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,454,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,893,000 after buying an additional 166,617 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Portillo’s by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 704,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after buying an additional 22,744 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its holdings in shares of Portillo’s by 501.5% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 269,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,000 after acquiring an additional 224,486 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Portillo’s by 1.0% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 263,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Portillo’s Stock Up 5.2%

The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $530.46 million, a P/E ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $4.31 and its 200-day moving average is $4.83.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $194.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.18 million. Portillo’s had a return on equity of 3.41% and a net margin of 2.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Portillo’s Inc. will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

About Portillo’s

Portillo’s, Inc operates a chain of fast-casual restaurants known for Chicago-style food. Its menu features Italian beef and Italian sausage sandwiches, Chicago-style hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, french fries, shakes and other desserts.

The company traces its origins to 1963, when Dick Portillo opened a small hot dog stand called The Dog House in Villa Park, Illinois. Portillo’s has since expanded from its Chicago-area roots into a multi-state restaurant business, with locations primarily in the United States.