El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Separately, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of LOCO opened at $13.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $427.31 million, a PE ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $13.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.35. El Pollo Loco has a fifty-two week low of $8.11 and a fifty-two week high of $14.25.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $122.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.39 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 5.76%. El Pollo Loco’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at El Pollo Loco

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari purchased 62,362 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.47 per share, with a total value of $777,654.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LOCO. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 321.8% in the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 145,498 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 111,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $12,890,000 after buying an additional 67,368 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $996,000 after buying an additional 90,860 shares during the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 197.2% during the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 491,244 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,785,000 after buying an additional 325,963 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the second quarter valued at $1,735,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.