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

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

Separately, Truist Financial upped their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

El Pollo Loco stock opened at $13.61 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $407.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80 and a beta of 1.50. El Pollo Loco has a 12-month low of $8.11 and a 12-month high of $14.25.

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

Insider Activity at El Pollo Loco

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari bought 21,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.13 per share, for a total transaction of $279,997.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 159,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,834.33. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOCO. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,735,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 384.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 175,670 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,987,000 after buying an additional 139,375 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 49.8% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 217,922 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after buying an additional 72,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 7.5% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,606 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 1,090 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

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.