El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

Separately, Truist Financial lifted 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

Shares of NASDAQ LOCO traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $12.98. The company had a trading volume of 72,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 280,340. El Pollo Loco has a 1-year low of $8.17 and a 1-year high of $14.25. The stock has a market cap of $388.62 million, a PE ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.85.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.04. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The business had revenue of $120.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari bought 43,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.59 per share, for a total transaction of $586,557.99. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 364,731 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,956,694.29. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders purchased a total of 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158 in the last quarter. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 34.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $120,000. 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.