Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) Rating Increased to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $16.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $13.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on PTLO. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Portillo’s from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Portillo’s from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Portillo’s in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Portillo’s Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PTLO opened at $13.39 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.32. Portillo’s has a 52-week low of $8.38 and a 52-week high of $16.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $993.83 million, a PE ratio of 31.88, a P/E/G ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.72.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.05. Portillo’s had a return on equity of 5.62% and a net margin of 3.65%. The business had revenue of $178.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. Portillo’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Portillo’s will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Portillo’s

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Portillo’s by 10.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,788,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,086,000 after buying an additional 175,999 shares in the last quarter. Engaged Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Portillo’s by 121.5% in the third quarter. Engaged Capital LLC now owns 6,114,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,368,000 after buying an additional 3,354,513 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Portillo’s by 55.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 117,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 41,944 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Portillo’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $12,337,000. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its position in Portillo’s by 51.2% during the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 207,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,801,000 after purchasing an additional 70,409 shares during the period. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Portillo’s Company Profile

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.