Brokers Set Expectations for El Pollo Loco FY2026 Earnings

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) – Equities researchers at William Blair issued their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of El Pollo Loco in a report issued on Monday, January 20th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia expects that the restaurant operator will earn $0.99 per share for the year. The consensus estimate for El Pollo Loco’s current full-year earnings is $0.83 per share.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.04. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The business had revenue of $120.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. El Pollo Loco’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

El Pollo Loco Stock Up 0.5 %

LOCO stock opened at $11.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $343.41 million, a PE ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $11.94 and its 200 day moving average is $12.48. El Pollo Loco has a one year low of $8.17 and a one year high of $14.25.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Biglari Sardar boosted its position in El Pollo Loco by 307.7% during the third quarter. Biglari Sardar now owns 489,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,703,000 after acquiring an additional 369,247 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco during the second quarter worth about $1,735,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in El Pollo Loco by 384.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 175,670 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,987,000 after acquiring an additional 139,375 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco during the third quarter worth about $1,056,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in El Pollo Loco by 22.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 411,298 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,635,000 after acquiring an additional 75,542 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.