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

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.8750.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson set a $11.00 price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Benchmark upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Zacks Research cut shares of El Pollo Loco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 85.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in El Pollo Loco by 89.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $97,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at about $106,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of LOCO stock opened at $13.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $11.57 and its 200-day moving average is $10.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $415.25 million, a PE ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 1.00. El Pollo Loco has a 52 week low of $8.29 and a 52 week high of $14.50.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $123.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.18 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 5.40%. Equities research analysts expect that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ: LOCO) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in Mexican-style fire-grilled chicken and complementary menu offerings. The company’s signature product is its marinated, flame-grilled chicken, which is prepared in an open-flame rotisserie and served in a variety of formats including tacos, burritos, bowls and salads. In addition to its core chicken offerings, El Pollo Loco menu items feature fresh-made salsas, guacamole, sides such as charro beans and fresh tortillas, as well as a selection of beverages and desserts.

Founded in 1975 in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, by Juan Francisco Ochoa, the concept expanded into the United States in 1980 with its first U.S.