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

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

El Pollo Loco Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of LOCO stock opened at $13.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $416.74 million, a P/E ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 1.49. El Pollo Loco has a 1-year low of $8.11 and a 1-year high of $14.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.21.

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

Insider Activity at El Pollo Loco

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari purchased 43,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.59 per share, for a total transaction of $586,557.99. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 364,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,956,694.29. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at $30,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 17.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,044 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 5,112 shares during the period. Finally, Rodgers Brothers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 2.7% in the first quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 212,725 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.