Brokerages Set El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) PT at $16.12

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.1250.

Several analysts recently weighed in on LOCO shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of 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 raised their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

NASDAQ LOCO opened at $14.22 on Wednesday. El Pollo Loco has a fifty-two week low of $8.98 and a fifty-two week high of $17.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.71. The stock has a market cap of $432.71 million, a P/E ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 0.78.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $129.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.29 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 6.96%. On average, analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total transaction of $1,352,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 558,803 shares of company stock valued at $9,427,504 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LOCO. Biglari Capital CORP. purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter worth $64,064,704. Biglari Sardar purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco during the second quarter valued at $8,297,629. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco during the second quarter valued at $1,841,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,187,000. Finally, Tieton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter valued at $17,535,000. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

About El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LOCO) operates and franchises restaurants specializing in Mexican-style fire-grilled chicken. The company’s menu includes citrus-marinated, flame-grilled chicken meals, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, salads, bowls, soups, side dishes and desserts. It also offers family meals, catering and various limited-time menu items.

Founded in Mexico in 1975, El Pollo Loco expanded into the United States in 1980 and has developed a brand centered on freshly prepared food and open-flame grilling.