El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sells $183,810.00 in Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total transaction of $183,810.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,538,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,136,038.31. This represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Sardar Biglari also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, July 13th, Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.74, for a total transaction of $1,255,500.00.
• On Thursday, July 2nd, Sardar Biglari sold 9,525 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.92, for a total transaction of $161,163.00.
• On Wednesday, July 1st, Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total transaction of $2,286,910.67.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Sardar Biglari sold 22,600 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.91, for a total transaction of $382,166.00.
• On Monday, June 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total value of $1,658,000.00.
• On Friday, June 26th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.75, for a total value of $1,675,000.00.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of LOCO opened at $16.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.54. The stock has a market cap of $501.82 million, a PE ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 0.78. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.98 and a 12 month high of $17.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $122.02 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 5.87%. Equities analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LOCO shares. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Freedom Capital raised shares of El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 287,143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,958,000 after purchasing an additional 13,095 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 197.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,008,000 after buying an additional 451,575 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 188,519 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,942,000 after buying an additional 12,964 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the first quarter worth approximately $221,000. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the second quarter worth approximately $240,000. 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.