Insider Selling: El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sells $334,600.00 in Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.73, for a total value of $334,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 106,422 shares in the company, valued at $1,780,440.06. The trade was a 15.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

• On Wednesday, August 5th, Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total value of $1,352,000.00.
• On Thursday, July 30th, Sardar Biglari sold 546 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total value of $110,469.81.
• On Friday, July 17th, Sardar Biglari sold 11,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total value of $183,810.00.
• On Monday, July 13th, Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.74, for a total value of $1,255,500.00.
• On Thursday, July 2nd, Sardar Biglari sold 9,525 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.92, for a total transaction of $161,163.00.
• On Wednesday, July 1st, Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total transaction of $2,286,910.67.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Sardar Biglari sold 22,600 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.91, for a total transaction of $382,166.00.
• On Monday, June 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total transaction of $1,658,000.00.
• On Friday, June 26th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.75, for a total transaction of $1,675,000.00.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

Shares of LOCO traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.99. 327,720 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 296,452. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.98 and a 52 week high of $17.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.65. The firm has a market cap of $517.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34 and a beta of 0.78.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $126.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.02 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 5.87%. On average, equities research analysts expect that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

El Pollo Loco declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,013,373 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,905,000 after purchasing an additional 12,072 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,580,000 after buying an additional 16,867 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 93.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,037,293 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,850,000 after buying an additional 502,378 shares in the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC boosted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 193.4% in the fourth quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 745,140 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,794,000 after buying an additional 491,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in El Pollo Loco by 197.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,008,000 after acquiring an additional 451,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Freedom Capital raised shares of El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.88.

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.