Wolfe Research Initiates Coverage on Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO)

Research analysts at Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “peer perform” rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Portillo’s in a research note on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $5.50 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and set a $6.00 price target (down from $8.00) on shares of Portillo’s in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Portillo’s in a report on Monday, December 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Portillo’s from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $7.00 target price on shares of Portillo’s in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Portillo’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.50.

Portillo’s Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of PTLO opened at $5.08 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $383.59 million, a PE ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.40 and a 200 day moving average of $5.58. Portillo’s has a 52-week low of $4.41 and a 52-week high of $14.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. Portillo’s had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 3.93%. The business had revenue of $185.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Portillo’s will post 0.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Portillo’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PTLO. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its stake in Portillo’s by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 6,994,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,757,000 after purchasing an additional 155,205 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Portillo’s by 16.8% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,777,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,428,000 after buying an additional 830,460 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Portillo’s by 4.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,563,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,587,000 after buying an additional 149,931 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Portillo’s in the 4th quarter valued at $10,350,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Portillo’s by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,131,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,750,000 after acquiring an additional 221,298 shares during the period. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Portillo’s Company Profile

Portillo’s, Inc operates a fast‐casual restaurant chain best known for its Chicago‐style menu, featuring Italian beef sandwiches, Chicago‐style hot dogs, char‐grilled burgers, salads, crinkle‐cut fries and hand‐spun milkshakes. In addition to its signature sandwiches and dogs, the company offers a selection of desserts—including its famous chocolate cake and frozen custard—as well as catering services designed to bring its Midwestern flavors to corporate and social events.

The company was founded in 1963 by Dick Portillo, who opened the first Portillo’s in Villa Park, Illinois.