El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sardar Biglari Sells 11,000 Shares of Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total transaction of $183,810.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,538,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,136,038.31. The trade was a 0.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Monday, July 13th, Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.74, for a total transaction of $1,255,500.00.
• On Thursday, July 2nd, Sardar Biglari sold 9,525 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.92, for a total transaction of $161,163.00.
• On Wednesday, July 1st, Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total transaction of $2,286,910.67.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Sardar Biglari sold 22,600 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.91, for a total transaction of $382,166.00.
• On Monday, June 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total value of $1,658,000.00.
• On Friday, June 26th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.75, for a total value of $1,675,000.00.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LOCO opened at $16.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $496.64 million, a P/E ratio of 16.64 and a beta of 0.78. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.98 and a 1 year high of $17.40.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $126.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.02 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 5.87%. Research analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 28th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Freedom Capital raised shares of El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, El Pollo Loco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 93.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,037,293 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,850,000 after purchasing an additional 502,378 shares during the period. Fund 1 Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 193.4% in the fourth quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 745,140 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,794,000 after purchasing an additional 491,184 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 197.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,008,000 after purchasing an additional 451,575 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 203.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 635,468 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,808,000 after purchasing an additional 426,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,976,000 after buying an additional 211,900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

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.