El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 198,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in El Pollo Loco were worth $2,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Biglari Sardar lifted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 307.7% during the 3rd quarter. Biglari Sardar now owns 489,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,703,000 after buying an additional 369,247 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,142,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 411,298 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,635,000 after buying an additional 75,542 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 372.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 70,409 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 55,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 89.6% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 84,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 39,824 shares during the last quarter. 81.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LOCO. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on El Pollo Loco in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Monday, March 10th.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ LOCO opened at $10.51 on Friday. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.17 and a 52 week high of $14.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.96 million, a PE ratio of 13.30 and a beta of 1.50.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $114.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 million. As a group, research analysts expect that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco Profile

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.