Stock Buyback Plan Authorized by El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Board

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 28th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

Shares of LOCO traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $13.95. The stock had a trading volume of 245,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 353,195. The company has a market cap of $424.78 million, a PE ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. El Pollo Loco has a fifty-two week low of $8.98 and a fifty-two week high of $15.90.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on LOCO shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Friday, March 13th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Benchmark lifted their target price on El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.88.

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.