Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $12.32, but opened at $12.79. Portillo’s shares last traded at $13.03, with a volume of 146,666 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens increased their target price on Portillo’s from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Portillo’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Portillo’s from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Portillo’s from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Portillo’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.29.

Portillo’s Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $980.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 1.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.21.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.15. Portillo’s had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 5.62%. The company had revenue of $184.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. Portillo’s’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Portillo’s Inc. will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Portillo’s

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Engaged Capital LLC lifted its stake in Portillo’s by 121.5% during the third quarter. Engaged Capital LLC now owns 6,114,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354,513 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Portillo’s by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,571,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,371,000 after purchasing an additional 97,801 shares in the last quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Portillo’s by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 1,944,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,283,000 after buying an additional 125,073 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Portillo’s by 10.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,788,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,086,000 after buying an additional 175,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Portillo’s by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,751,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,467,000 after buying an additional 132,112 shares during the period. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Portillo’s Company Profile

Portillo’s Inc owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut French fries, homemade chocolate cakes, and chocolate cake shake. It offers its products through its website, application, and certain third-party platforms.