El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Shares Cross Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.92 and traded as high as $10.92. El Pollo Loco shares last traded at $10.56, with a volume of 200,880 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded El Pollo Loco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.50.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.92 and its 200-day moving average is $10.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $316.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.41.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $121.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.57 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.15% and a net margin of 5.39%. Analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 495.3% in the 2nd quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 1,231,087 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,302 shares in the last quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC now owns 629,990 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,936,000 after buying an additional 114,850 shares during the period. Carlson Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at $672,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco during the second quarter worth about $551,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 177.7% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 62,265 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 39,844 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

About El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ: LOCO) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in Mexican-style fire-grilled chicken and complementary menu offerings. The company’s signature product is its marinated, flame-grilled chicken, which is prepared in an open-flame rotisserie and served in a variety of formats including tacos, burritos, bowls and salads. In addition to its core chicken offerings, El Pollo Loco menu items feature fresh-made salsas, guacamole, sides such as charro beans and fresh tortillas, as well as a selection of beverages and desserts.

Founded in 1975 in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, by Juan Francisco Ochoa, the concept expanded into the United States in 1980 with its first U.S.