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

StockNews.com lowered shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

Separately, Truist Financial raised their price target on 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ:LOCO traded down $0.33 on Thursday, reaching $12.22. 459,188 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 280,401. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.71. The firm has a market cap of $380.04 million, a PE ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.49. El Pollo Loco has a 12 month low of $8.15 and a 12 month high of $14.25.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $122.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $120.39 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 5.76%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari acquired 21,325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.13 per share, for a total transaction of $279,997.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 159,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,834.33. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the third quarter worth about $1,056,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the third quarter worth about $45,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the third quarter worth about $120,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter worth about $1,735,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.