El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.1250.

Several equities research analysts have commented on LOCO shares. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of LOCO opened at $14.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $441.54 million, a P/E ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.78. El Pollo Loco has a 1 year low of $8.98 and a 1 year high of $17.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $15.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.02. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 6.96% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $129.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.29 million. On average, equities analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

El Pollo Loco announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 28th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at El Pollo Loco

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total transaction of $2,286,910.67. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,644,979 shares in the company, valued at $62,948,787.33. The trade was a 3.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 558,803 shares of company stock worth $9,427,504. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 60.2% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 18,927 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 7,113 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the second quarter worth $486,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at $4,187,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at $2,550,000. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $253,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LOCO) operates and franchises restaurants specializing in Mexican-style fire-grilled chicken. The company’s menu includes citrus-marinated, flame-grilled chicken meals, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, salads, bowls, soups, side dishes and desserts. It also offers family meals, catering and various limited-time menu items.

Founded in Mexico in 1975, El Pollo Loco expanded into the United States in 1980 and has developed a brand centered on freshly prepared food and open-flame grilling.