El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,820,000 shares, a decline of 16.5% from the February 28th total of 2,180,000 shares. Currently, 7.2% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 222,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.2 days.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded El Pollo Loco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday.
Read Our Latest Research Report on El Pollo Loco
Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,533,400 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $17,695,000 after buying an additional 266,908 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,454 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $16,230,000 after purchasing an additional 34,399 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 618,829 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $7,141,000 after purchasing an additional 40,012 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 593,425 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $8,130,000 after buying an additional 14,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Biglari Sardar lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 307.7% in the third 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company's stock.
El Pollo Loco Stock Down 7.8 %
NASDAQ LOCO traded down $0.78 on Friday, hitting $9.27. 495,389 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 268,067. El Pollo Loco has a twelve month low of $8.17 and a twelve month high of $14.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $275.91 million, a P/E ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.24 and a 200 day moving average of $12.06.
El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 million. As a group, analysts expect that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
El Pollo Loco Company Profile
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Get Free Report)
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.
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