Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) Trading Up 5.9% – Still a Buy?

Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) rose 5.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $9.77 and last traded at $9.74. Approximately 473,246 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 1,261,511 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PTLO shares. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Portillo’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Portillo’s in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Portillo’s from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.57.

Portillo’s Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $737.02 million, a PE ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.47 and its 200-day moving average is $11.15.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.05. Portillo’s had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 5.62%. The company had revenue of $178.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. Portillo’s’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Portillo’s Inc. will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Engaged Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Portillo’s by 121.5% during the third quarter. Engaged Capital LLC now owns 6,114,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354,513 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Portillo’s by 10.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,788,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,086,000 after purchasing an additional 175,999 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Portillo’s by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,291,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,838,000 after buying an additional 32,810 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Portillo’s by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 1,272,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,137,000 after buying an additional 288,675 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Portillo’s by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,113,000 after buying an additional 49,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

About Portillo’s

Portillo’s Inc owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut French fries, homemade chocolate cakes, and chocolate cake shake. It offers its products through its website, application, and certain third-party platforms.