Sardar Biglari Buys 43,161 Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari purchased 43,161 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.59 per share, with a total value of $586,557.99. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 364,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,956,694.29. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Monday, August 19th, Sardar Biglari bought 62,329 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.46 per share, for a total transaction of $838,948.34.
• On Friday, August 16th, Sardar Biglari purchased 21,325 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.13 per share, with a total value of $279,997.25.
• On Wednesday, August 14th, Sardar Biglari acquired 62,362 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.47 per share, for a total transaction of $777,654.14.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

El Pollo Loco stock opened at $13.66 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $11.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.32. The firm has a market cap of $424.83 million, a PE ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.11 and a 52-week high of $13.87.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 5.76%. The business had revenue of $122.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on LOCO shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 10th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Thursday, May 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LOCO. CWM LLC raised its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 34.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,606 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 17.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,044 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 5,112 shares in the last quarter. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc, develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco name. It operates and franchises restaurants located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, and Louisiana. It also licenses its brand to restaurants in the Philippines.