El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. Forecasted to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $0.13 Per Share (NASDAQ:LOCO)

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) – Analysts at William Blair boosted their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 24th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now expects that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $0.13 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.11. The consensus estimate for El Pollo Loco’s current full-year earnings is $0.63 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for El Pollo Loco’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.23 EPS and Q3 2024 earnings at $0.14 EPS.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. The company had revenue of $112.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.07 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 5.45%. El Pollo Loco’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

LOCO stock opened at $8.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32. El Pollo Loco has a 1 year low of $8.11 and a 1 year high of $11.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.65 million, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50-day moving average is $8.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.82.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LOCO. Fund 1 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,746,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 33.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 541,441 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,846,000 after buying an additional 134,673 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,162,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,759 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,138,000 after buying an additional 93,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $685,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.