56,039 Shares in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. $LOCO Bought by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 56,039 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 4.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 287,143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,958,000 after purchasing an additional 13,095 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 197.4% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 188,519 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,942,000 after purchasing an additional 12,964 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 1st quarter valued at about $221,000. Finally, Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $240,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of El Pollo Loco stock opened at $15.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.38. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $8.98 and a one year high of $17.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $462.54 million, a P/E ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.78.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 6.96%.The firm had revenue of $129.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.29 million. Analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on LOCO. Freedom Capital raised El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, El Pollo Loco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total value of $1,352,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 66,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,122,531.80. This trade represents a 54.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 558,803 shares of company stock worth $9,427,504. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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.