El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

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

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

El Pollo Loco Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of LOCO opened at $12.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $390.31 million, a P/E ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.49. El Pollo Loco has a 12-month low of $8.15 and a 12-month high of $14.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $122.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.39 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 10.33%. El Pollo Loco’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari purchased 21,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.13 per share, for a total transaction of $279,997.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 159,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,834.33. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the third quarter worth about $1,056,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the third quarter worth about $45,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the third quarter worth about $120,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the second quarter worth about $1,735,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.