El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Upgraded at Benchmark

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) was upgraded by analysts at Benchmark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $14.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Benchmark’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 11.14% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on LOCO. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Friday, March 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research lowered El Pollo Loco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

El Pollo Loco Stock Up 15.8%

NASDAQ:LOCO traded up $1.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $12.60. The stock had a trading volume of 664,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 208,747. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.49. The company has a market capitalization of $377.28 million, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 1.00. El Pollo Loco has a twelve month low of $8.29 and a twelve month high of $13.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LOCO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,580,000 after buying an additional 16,867 shares during the last quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP lifted its position in El Pollo Loco by 495.3% in the second quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 1,231,087 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024,302 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 502,378 shares during 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 acquiring an additional 491,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 2.1% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 741,793 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,195,000 after acquiring an additional 15,400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

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.