Analysts Set El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) PT at $14.50

Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.50.

A number of brokerages recently commented on LOCO. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LOCO. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in El Pollo Loco by 85.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 31.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,229 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 89.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in El Pollo Loco during the second quarter worth $72,000. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco in the third quarter worth $97,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

El Pollo Loco Trading Up 1.9%

NASDAQ LOCO opened at $11.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $334.30 million, a P/E ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. El Pollo Loco has a 52 week low of $8.29 and a 52 week high of $12.65.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $121.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.57 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 10.15%. Equities research analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ: LOCO) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in Mexican-style fire-grilled chicken and complementary menu offerings. The company’s signature product is its marinated, flame-grilled chicken, which is prepared in an open-flame rotisserie and served in a variety of formats including tacos, burritos, bowls and salads. In addition to its core chicken offerings, El Pollo Loco menu items feature fresh-made salsas, guacamole, sides such as charro beans and fresh tortillas, as well as a selection of beverages and desserts.

Founded in 1975 in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, by Juan Francisco Ochoa, the concept expanded into the United States in 1980 with its first U.S.