JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Stake in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 22.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 411,298 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,542 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in El Pollo Loco were worth $5,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,094 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the third quarter worth $120,000. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of LOCO opened at $11.47 on Friday. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.17 and a fifty-two week high of $14.25. The firm has a market cap of $343.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $12.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.31.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.04. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The company had revenue of $120.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

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.