Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $13.57, but opened at $14.61. Portillo’s shares last traded at $14.71, with a volume of 494,039 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.15. Portillo’s had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 5.62%. The company had revenue of $184.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on PTLO. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Portillo’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $13.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Portillo’s in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Portillo’s from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Portillo’s from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Portillo’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Portillo’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PTLO. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its position in shares of Portillo’s by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Portillo’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Portillo’s by 172.6% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 5,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416 shares during the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Portillo’s during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of Portillo’s in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Portillo’s Stock Up 9.8 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $12.05 and its 200-day moving average is $12.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.38.

About Portillo’s

Portillo’s Inc owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut French fries, homemade chocolate cakes, and chocolate cake shake. It offers its products through its website, application, and certain third-party platforms.