Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Shares of Portillo's Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $12.32, but opened at $12.79. Portillo's shares last traded at $13.03, with a volume of 146,666 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PTLO. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Portillo's from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Portillo's from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Portillo's from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Portillo's from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $14.29.

Portillo's Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average is $13.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $901.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

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Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.15. Portillo's had a return on equity of 5.62% and a net margin of 3.65%. The company had revenue of $184.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $185.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. Portillo's's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Portillo's Inc. will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Portillo's

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PTLO. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its holdings in Portillo's by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Portillo's during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Portillo's by 172.6% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 5,395 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 3,416 shares during the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Portillo's in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Portillo's in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Portillo's Company Profile

Portillo's Inc owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut French fries, homemade chocolate cakes, and chocolate cake shake. It offers its products through its website, application, and certain third-party platforms.