El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

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

Separately, Truist Financial increased 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 Stock Performance

Shares of LOCO opened at $13.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari acquired 43,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.59 per share, with a total value of $586,557.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 364,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,956,694.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,360,543 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,820,000 after purchasing an additional 20,907 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in El Pollo Loco by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,323,373 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,890,000 after buying an additional 67,368 shares during the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC bought a new position in El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,746,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 325,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the second quarter worth approximately $4,407,000. Institutional investors 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.