Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 8,442 Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 167,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 8,442 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in El Pollo Loco were worth $2,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LOCO. Quarry LP bought a new position in El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in El Pollo Loco in the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 1st quarter valued at about $106,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the third quarter valued at about $120,000. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of El Pollo Loco stock opened at $12.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.17 and a twelve month high of $14.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.10. The firm has a market cap of $361.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 1.50.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 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 firm had revenue of $120.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LOCO. Truist Financial raised their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

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.