El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $17.30 According to Analysts

Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.30.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Benchmark upped their target price on El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. DA Davidson raised their price target on El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Freedom Capital upgraded El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling at El Pollo Loco

In other news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total value of $1,352,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 66,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,122,531.80. This represents a 54.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 108,257 shares of company stock valued at $1,824,954 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Biglari Capital CORP. purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter valued at $64,064,704. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at $41,716,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,013,373 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,905,000 after purchasing an additional 12,072 shares during the period. Tieton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at $17,535,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in 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 during the period. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $16.32 on Friday. El Pollo Loco has a 12 month low of $8.98 and a 12 month high of $17.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $496.62 million, a P/E ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 0.77. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $15.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.98.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $129.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.29 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 6.96% and a return on equity of 10.87%. 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 Company Profile

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc operates and franchises quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco brand. The company specializes in Mexican-inspired meals centered on citrus-marinated, fire-grilled chicken, prepared using traditional cooking methods. Its menu includes chicken meals, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, salads, bowls, family meals and a variety of side dishes, beverages and desserts.

El Pollo Loco was founded in 1975 in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, and opened its first restaurant in the United States in 1980.