El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Receives $14.50 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.50.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research cut El Pollo Loco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th.

El Pollo Loco Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of LOCO opened at $10.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $321.66 million, a P/E ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 1.01. El Pollo Loco has a 12 month low of $8.29 and a 12 month high of $12.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP boosted its position in El Pollo Loco by 495.3% during the second quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 1,231,087 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,302 shares during the last quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 22.3% in the second quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC now owns 629,990 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,936,000 after purchasing an additional 114,850 shares in the last quarter. Carlson Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at approximately $672,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter valued at $551,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 726,393 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,998,000 after acquiring an additional 106,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

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.