Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.29.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Portillo’s from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Portillo’s from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Portillo’s from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Portillo’s from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Portillo’s

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Portillo’s by 94.4% during the fourth quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 43,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 21,000 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Portillo’s by 229.0% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 175,999 shares during the period. CenterStar Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Portillo’s by 348.4% during the fourth quarter. CenterStar Asset Management LLC now owns 60,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 47,029 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Portillo’s during the fourth quarter worth $2,590,000. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Portillo’s Stock Performance

Shares of PTLO stock opened at $13.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 1.81. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $12.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.08. Portillo’s has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $15.78.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $185.16 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Portillo’s will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Portillo’s

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.