Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 55,510 Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 372.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 70,409 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 55,510 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in El Pollo Loco were worth $951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LOCO. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at $4,407,000. Biglari Sardar raised its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 307.7% in the 3rd 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 2nd quarter valued at about $1,735,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 384.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 175,670 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 139,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the third quarter worth approximately $1,056,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th.

El Pollo Loco Stock Down 1.4 %

El Pollo Loco stock opened at $11.59 on Friday. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.17 and a fifty-two week high of $14.25. 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 50-day simple moving average is $12.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.41. The stock has a market cap of $346.99 million, a PE ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.45.

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

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.