El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. $LOCO Shares Acquired by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 11,403.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 115,037 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 114,037 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in El Pollo Loco were worth $1,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 20.5% during 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. AdvisorShares Investments LLC raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 236.1% during the 3rd quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 49,539 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 34,800 shares in the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter worth about $112,000. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter worth about $97,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 20,413 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on LOCO. Weiss Ratings raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price target 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. Benchmark lifted their price target 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. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.88.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

LOCO opened at $13.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $420.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.81. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.98 and a 52 week high of $15.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $13.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.10. 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 (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly 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 for 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, research analysts predict that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

El Pollo Loco declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

El Pollo Loco 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.