Rodgers Brothers Inc. Purchases 4,000 Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO)

Rodgers Brothers Inc. raised its position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 214,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Rodgers Brothers Inc. owned about 0.72% of El Pollo Loco worth $2,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 618,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,141,000 after purchasing an additional 40,012 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in El Pollo Loco by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 456,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,267,000 after purchasing an additional 45,134 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 332.2% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 289,739 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,344,000 after buying an additional 222,704 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in El Pollo Loco by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 47,307 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 4,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LOCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on El Pollo Loco in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 2.6 %

El Pollo Loco stock opened at $10.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.96 million, a P/E ratio of 13.30 and a beta of 1.50. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.17 and a 52 week high of $14.25.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 5.11%. The business had revenue of $114.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 million. Analysts expect that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

El Pollo Loco 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.