First Eagle Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. $LOCO

First Eagle Investment Management LLC cut its stake in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 26.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 547,793 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 194,000 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in El Pollo Loco were worth $5,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LOCO. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $741,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 359,396 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,486,000 after acquiring an additional 61,200 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,212 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LOCO. Wall Street Zen upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, El Pollo Loco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.88.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 3.0%

El Pollo Loco stock opened at $13.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.65. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.87 and a 12 month high of $15.90. The company has a market capitalization of $400.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.79.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 5.87%.The firm had revenue of $126.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.02 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.