StockNews.com Upgrades El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) to “Buy”

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Separately, 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.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of El Pollo Loco stock traded up $0.31 on Monday, hitting $10.32. 1,018,660 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 292,000. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.85. El Pollo Loco has a 52 week low of $8.11 and a 52 week high of $11.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.78 million, a P/E ratio of 12.74 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 for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $111.09 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. El Pollo Loco’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that El Pollo Loco will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 285.7% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 6,176 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 1,074.7% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 9,264 shares during the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the third quarter valued at $97,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter worth about $111,000. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

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.