First Eagle Investment Management LLC Has $2.47 Million Position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 217,922 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 72,424 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned 0.70% of El Pollo Loco worth $2,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOCO. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,360,543 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,820,000 after acquiring an additional 20,907 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in El Pollo Loco by 5.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,323,373 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,890,000 after purchasing an additional 67,368 shares during the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,746,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 197.2% in the 1st 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. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,407,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

NASDAQ LOCO opened at $13.73 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $427.00 million, a P/E ratio of 16.95 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.86. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.11 and a fifty-two week high of $14.25.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $122.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.39 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari acquired 62,362 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.47 per share, with a total value of $777,654.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 87,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,404.14. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired a total of 189,177 shares of company stock valued at $2,483,158 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LOCO. Truist Financial boosted their price target on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th.

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.