El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sardar Biglari Acquires 62,362 Shares of Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari acquired 62,362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.47 per share, with a total value of $777,654.14. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 87,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,404.14. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Sardar Biglari also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 21st, Sardar Biglari bought 43,161 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.59 per share, with a total value of $586,557.99.
• On Monday, August 19th, Sardar Biglari acquired 62,329 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.46 per share, for a total transaction of $838,948.34.
• On Friday, August 16th, Sardar Biglari bought 21,325 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.13 per share, with a total value of $279,997.25.

El Pollo Loco Stock Up 0.5 %

El Pollo Loco stock opened at $13.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $424.83 million, a P/E ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.32. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $8.11 and a one year high of $13.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.36.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $122.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.39 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 10.27%. El Pollo Loco’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on LOCO shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. StockNews.com lowered El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 10th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. CWM LLC grew its position in El Pollo Loco by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 285.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 6,176 shares during the period. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 1st quarter worth about $106,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.