El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.30.

LOCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark upped their price target on El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Roth Capital initiated coverage on El Pollo Loco in a report on Friday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th.

El Pollo Loco Trading Up 5.9%

LOCO stock opened at $16.47 on Thursday. El Pollo Loco has a 1-year low of $9.99 and a 1-year high of $17.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $14.99 and its 200-day moving average is $14.14. The firm has a market cap of $501.23 million, a P/E ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 0.85.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $129.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.29 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 6.96%. Equities analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 25,556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total transaction of $421,674.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,513,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,971,182.50. This trade represents a 0.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 0.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 302,399 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,339,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 0.8% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 110,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 419.9% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,563 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in El Pollo Loco during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 27,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LOCO) operates and franchises quick-service restaurants specializing in Mexican-inspired food and citrus-marinated, fire-grilled chicken. Its menu includes chicken meals, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, salads, bowls and family meals, along with a variety of sides, beverages and desserts.

The company was founded in 1975 in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, and expanded into the United States in 1980 with its first restaurant in Los Angeles. El Pollo Loco primarily serves customers through restaurants in the western and southwestern United States, particularly in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Texas.