El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.8750.

LOCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut El Pollo Loco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Benchmark boosted 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.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

LOCO stock opened at $16.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.32. El Pollo Loco has a 1 year low of $8.98 and a 1 year high of $17.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $14.60 and a 200 day moving average of $12.76. The company has a market cap of $507.91 million, a P/E ratio of 17.02 and a beta of 0.78.

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

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

Insider Transactions at El Pollo Loco

In related news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total transaction of $1,658,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,004,000. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 222,600 shares of company stock worth $3,715,166. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LOCO. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after purchasing an additional 211,900 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 648.3% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 152,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 132,351 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 11,403.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 115,037 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 114,037 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $945,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $107,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about El Pollo Loco

Here are the key news stories impacting El Pollo Loco this week:

• Positive Sentiment: El Pollo Loco is expanding its restaurant footprint, with first-time openings in Idaho and a new location in Lubbock, Texas, plus opening-day promotions that could help raise brand awareness and drive sales. El Pollo Loco Opens in Idaho for First Time
• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Capital reportedly issued bullish ratings on El Pollo Loco, adding to the view that the stock may still have upside after its recent operating improvement. Dutch Bros, First Watch, and El Pollo Loco land bull ratings from Freedom Capital
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary is questioning how to trade LOCO after first-quarter earnings, but the company had already posted a solid beat on EPS and revenue in its last report, so the market may be weighing valuation rather than fundamentals alone. El Pollo Loco (LOCO): Buy, sell, or hold post Q1 earnings?
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s recent earnings and buyback authorization remain supportive longer-term signals, including a 40 million dollar repurchase plan that may help offset share-price weakness. Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner: El Pollo Loco’s Turnaround Recipe
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold additional shares this week, following earlier large sales, which can pressure sentiment because investors often read insider selling as a sign of reduced confidence or profit-taking. Insider Selling: El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sells 22,600 Shares

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.