El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Separately, Truist Financial raised their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

El Pollo Loco Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ LOCO traded up $0.22 on Friday, reaching $13.40. 112,537 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 284,639. El Pollo Loco has a fifty-two week low of $8.11 and a fifty-two week high of $14.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $416.74 million, a P/E ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $13.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $122.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.39 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 10.33%. El Pollo Loco’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at El Pollo Loco

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari acquired 62,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.47 per share, with a total value of $777,654.14. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 87,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,404.14. This represents a 200.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have bought a total of 189,177 shares of company stock valued at $2,483,158 over the last quarter. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LOCO. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 34.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 7.5% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,606 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at $30,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in El Pollo Loco by 17.7% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Rodgers Brothers Inc. increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 212,725 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

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.