El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.8750.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LOCO. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $15.64 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $476.24 million, a PE ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. El Pollo Loco has a 52-week low of $8.98 and a 52-week high of $15.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.25.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $126.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.02 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 5.87%. On average, equities research analysts expect that El Pollo Loco will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 247,098 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,425,000 after purchasing an additional 33,195 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 74.2% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 58,509 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 24,923 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 110,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 203.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 635,468 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,808,000 after purchasing an additional 426,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 1st quarter worth about $88,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

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.