El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LOCO. Truist Financial upped their target price on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Friday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. DA Davidson set a $11.00 target price on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Benchmark raised shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $14.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.32. El Pollo Loco has a one year low of $8.29 and a one year high of $14.50. The firm has a market cap of $422.74 million, a PE ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 1.00.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $123.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.18 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 5.40%. As a group, equities analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LOCO. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 85.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 89.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the third quarter valued at about $97,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the fourth quarter valued at about $106,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

El Pollo Loco Company 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.