El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Separately, Truist Financial increased their target price on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $12.55 on Thursday. El Pollo Loco has a 1 year low of $8.15 and a 1 year high of $14.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $390.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $13.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.70.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 5.76%. The firm had revenue of $122.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at El Pollo Loco

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari acquired 21,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.13 per share, for a total transaction of $279,997.25. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 159,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,834.33. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,606 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,044 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 5,112 shares during the last quarter. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.