El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock Rating Upgraded by 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 published on Friday.

Separately, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of 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 Trading Down 1.0 %

El Pollo Loco stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $12.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 169,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,681. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.32. El Pollo Loco has a 12 month low of $8.17 and a 12 month high of $14.25. The stock has a market cap of $386.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari purchased 62,362 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.47 per share, with a total value of $777,654.14. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 87,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,089,404.14. The trade was a 200.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,407,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 197.2% in the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 491,244 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 325,963 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,735,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in El Pollo Loco by 384.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 175,670 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,987,000 after buying an additional 139,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 321.8% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 145,498 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 111,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company's stock.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

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.