AlphaQuest LLC Boosts Stock Position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. $LOCO

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 82.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 64,145 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,928 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in El Pollo Loco were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 31.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,229 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 9.8% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 15,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 3.5% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,474 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 27.3% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,722 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 3.5% during the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 86,556 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $953,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $9.76 on Tuesday. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.29 and a 12-month high of $13.24. The company has a market capitalization of $292.75 million, a PE ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $9.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 9.83% and a net margin of 5.15%.The company had revenue of $125.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. El Pollo Loco’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, El Pollo Loco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

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.