El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.30.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Freedom Capital upgraded El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Benchmark increased their target price on El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Activity at El Pollo Loco

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total transaction of $1,352,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,122,531.80. This trade represents a 54.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 108,257 shares of company stock worth $1,824,954 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOCO. Biglari Capital CORP. acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,064,704. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the second quarter valued at $1,841,000. Biglari Sardar purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,297,629. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,550,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,187,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LOCO opened at $16.34 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $15.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $497.28 million, a P/E ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 0.77. El Pollo Loco has a one year low of $8.98 and a one year high of $17.40.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.02. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 6.96%. The company had revenue of $129.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.29 million. Analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

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.