Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $7.14 Million Holdings in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 618,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,012 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 2.07% of El Pollo Loco worth $7,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 456,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,267,000 after purchasing an additional 45,134 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in El Pollo Loco by 332.2% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 289,739 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,344,000 after buying an additional 222,704 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 47,307 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 4,949 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter valued at about $156,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on LOCO shares. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Monday, March 10th.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of LOCO opened at $9.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $276.93 million, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.35. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.17 and a twelve month high of $14.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.01.

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

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.