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

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

Separately, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $12.90 on Friday. El Pollo Loco has a one year low of $8.17 and a one year high of $14.25. The company has a market cap of $386.21 million, a PE ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $13.23 and a 200-day moving average of $11.90.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.04. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 5.11%. The company had revenue of $120.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. El Pollo Loco’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari bought 21,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.13 per share, with a total value of $279,997.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 159,241 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,834.33. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the third quarter valued at $45,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 34.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter worth $120,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 1st quarter worth about $106,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.