El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.12.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

NASDAQ LOCO opened at $15.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $472.88 million, a P/E ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.91. 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 has a 12-month low of $8.98 and a 12-month high of $17.40.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $129.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.29 million. Sell-side analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 28th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at El Pollo Loco

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total value of $1,352,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 66,422 shares in the company, valued at $1,122,531.80. This represents a 54.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 558,803 shares of company stock valued at $9,427,504 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOCO. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in El Pollo Loco by 85.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 89.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 2,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $88,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

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.