Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO) Upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus to "Buy" Rating

Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $16.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $13.00. Stifel Nicolaus' price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.94% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Portillo's from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Portillo's from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Portillo's in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Portillo's Price Performance

NASDAQ:PTLO traded up $0.74 on Monday, hitting $13.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,357,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,821,336. Portillo's has a 52 week low of $8.38 and a 52 week high of $16.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $981.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.32.

Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $178.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $182.07 million. Portillo's had a return on equity of 5.62% and a net margin of 3.65%. Portillo's's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Portillo's will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Portillo's

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Portillo's by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,788,113 shares of the company's stock worth $24,086,000 after acquiring an additional 175,999 shares during the period. Engaged Capital LLC grew its stake in Portillo's by 121.5% during the third quarter. Engaged Capital LLC now owns 6,114,956 shares of the company's stock worth $82,368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354,513 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Portillo's by 55.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 117,430 shares of the company's stock worth $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 41,944 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Portillo's in the third quarter worth approximately $12,337,000. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Portillo's by 51.2% in the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 207,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,801,000 after buying an additional 70,409 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company's stock.

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.