El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Benchmark lifted their target price on El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. DA Davidson upped their target price on El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Freedom Capital upgraded El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.12.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $15.46 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.95. El Pollo Loco has a 12 month low of $8.98 and a 12 month high of $17.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $470.45 million, a P/E ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 0.78.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.02. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 6.96% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $129.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.29 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 28th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at El Pollo Loco

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total value of $2,286,910.67. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,644,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,948,787.33. The trade was a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 558,803 shares of company stock worth $9,427,504. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LOCO. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in 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 worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $88,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.