William Blair Weighs in on El Pollo Loco FY2026 Earnings

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO - Free Report) - Equities researchers at William Blair issued their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for El Pollo Loco in a research note issued on Monday, January 20th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia anticipates that the restaurant operator will post earnings of $0.99 per share for the year. The consensus estimate for El Pollo Loco's current full-year earnings is $0.83 per share.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded El Pollo Loco from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of LOCO stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $11.47. 182,147 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 165,596. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $343.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 1.47. The stock's fifty day moving average is $11.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.48. El Pollo Loco has a fifty-two week low of $8.17 and a fifty-two week high of $14.25.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $120.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.03 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LOCO. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 89.6% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 84,247 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $972,000 after acquiring an additional 39,824 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,713 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 22.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 411,298 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,635,000 after purchasing an additional 75,542 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 372.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 70,409 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 55,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 49.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 65,845 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $901,000 after buying an additional 21,770 shares during the period. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.