Gladius Capital Management LP Takes $32,000 Position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO)

Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,572 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 33.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 541,441 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,846,000 after purchasing an additional 134,673 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 355,759 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,138,000 after purchasing an additional 93,476 shares during the last quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. boosted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 3.4% in the third quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 215,025 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 7,100 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,162,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 5.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 125,174 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,120,000 after acquiring an additional 6,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on LOCO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd.

El Pollo Loco Trading Up 2.1 %

LOCO traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $10.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 328,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,301. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.11 and a 52-week high of $11.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $8.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.88. The firm has a market cap of $328.73 million, a P/E ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.44.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.08. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.64% and a return on equity of 10.13%. The firm had revenue of $116.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

About El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc, develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco name. It operates and franchises restaurants located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, and Louisiana. It also licenses its brand to restaurants in the Philippines.