El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Now Covered by Analysts at Craig Hallum

Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $18.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Monday.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 6.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ LOCO opened at $9.88 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.39. The company has a market cap of $294.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. El Pollo Loco has a 12-month low of $8.17 and a 12-month high of $14.25.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $114.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.34%. Equities research analysts expect that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LOCO. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in El Pollo Loco by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 167,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,288,000 after purchasing an additional 8,442 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 91.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,094 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Biglari Sardar grew its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 307.7% during the third quarter. Biglari Sardar now owns 489,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,703,000 after buying an additional 369,247 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco during the third quarter valued at $153,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

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.