El Pollo Loco FY2025 EPS Estimate Reduced by William Blair

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) – Investment analysts at William Blair dropped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for El Pollo Loco in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, October 20th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now forecasts that the restaurant operator will earn $0.86 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $0.90. The consensus estimate for El Pollo Loco’s current full-year earnings is $0.83 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for El Pollo Loco’s FY2026 earnings at $0.89 EPS.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, El Pollo Loco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

El Pollo Loco Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of LOCO stock opened at $9.52 on Wednesday. El Pollo Loco has a 1 year low of $8.29 and a 1 year high of $13.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.13. The company has a market cap of $285.55 million, a PE ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 1.05.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 9.83% and a net margin of 5.15%.The business had revenue of $125.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LOCO. CWM LLC increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 31.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,229 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 15,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,474 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,722 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 85.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares during the period. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.