El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sardar Biglari Sells 25,556 Shares of Company Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 25,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total transaction of $421,674.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,513,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,971,182.50. This trade represents a 0.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Sardar Biglari also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, August 7th, Sardar Biglari sold 1,100 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.06, for a total transaction of $18,766.00.
• On Wednesday, August 5th, Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total transaction of $1,352,000.00.
• On Monday, August 3rd, Sardar Biglari sold 20,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.73, for a total value of $334,600.00.
• On Thursday, July 30th, Sardar Biglari sold 546 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.70, for a total value of $9,118.20.
• On Wednesday, July 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 6,611 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total value of $110,469.81.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $15.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.02. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.98 and a 12 month high of $17.40. The firm has a market cap of $477.80 million, a P/E ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 0.77. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $129.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.29 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 6.96%. On average, analysts expect that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LOCO. Weiss Ratings raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Friday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.30.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the third quarter worth about $972,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in El Pollo Loco by 0.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 302,399 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,339,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in El Pollo Loco by 60.2% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 18,927 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 7,113 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $486,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,187,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

About El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc operates and franchises quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco brand. The company specializes in Mexican-inspired meals centered on citrus-marinated, fire-grilled chicken, prepared using traditional cooking methods. Its menu includes chicken meals, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, salads, bowls, family meals and a variety of side dishes, beverages and desserts.

El Pollo Loco was founded in 1975 in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, and opened its first restaurant in the United States in 1980.