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

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, Truist Financial raised 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

LOCO stock opened at $12.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.23 and a 200-day moving average of $11.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $386.21 million, a P/E ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 1.50. El Pollo Loco has a 12 month low of $8.17 and a 12 month high of $14.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $120.40 million during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari purchased 62,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,404.14. This trade represents a 200.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 167,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,288,000 after acquiring an additional 8,442 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the 3rd quarter worth $1,056,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the third quarter worth $45,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the third quarter valued at about $120,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. 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.