Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Invests $555,000 in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. $LOCO

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 32,700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $555,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 85.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $88,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at El Pollo Loco

In related news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 66,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,122,531.80. The trade was a 54.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 558,803 shares of company stock valued at $9,427,504. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

El Pollo Loco Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of LOCO opened at $15.35 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.98 and a 12 month high of $17.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.36. The firm has a market cap of $467.10 million, a P/E ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 0.78.

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

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

El Pollo Loco 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.