El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sardar Biglari Sells 75,000 Shares

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.74, for a total value of $1,255,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,560,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,601,999.96. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Sardar Biglari also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 2nd, Sardar Biglari sold 9,525 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.92, for a total transaction of $161,163.00.
• On Wednesday, July 1st, Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total transaction of $2,286,910.67.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Sardar Biglari sold 22,600 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.91, for a total transaction of $382,166.00.
• On Monday, June 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total transaction of $1,658,000.00.
• On Friday, June 26th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.75, for a total transaction of $1,675,000.00.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of El Pollo Loco stock opened at $16.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $504.33 million, a P/E ratio of 16.90 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.07. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.98 and a twelve month high of $17.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.34.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $126.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.02 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 11.04%. As a group, research analysts expect that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 85.0% during the second 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 shares of El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in 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 worth $51,000 after buying an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco during the 1st quarter worth about $88,000. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter worth about $97,000. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on LOCO shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings cut El Pollo Loco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Freedom Capital raised El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.88.

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.