Sardar Biglari Sells 132,421 Shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total value of $2,286,910.67. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,644,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,948,787.33. This trade represents a 3.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares 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 stock was sold at an average price of $16.92, for a total value of $161,163.00.
• 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 value of $382,166.00.
• On Monday, June 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total value of $1,658,000.00.
• On Friday, June 26th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.75, for a total transaction of $1,675,000.00.

El Pollo Loco Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $16.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $494.20 million, a P/E ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 0.78. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.98 and a 12 month high of $17.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.87.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $126.18 million for 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 forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LOCO. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 89.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 1st quarter valued at about $88,000. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $97,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded El Pollo Loco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Freedom Capital upgraded El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Benchmark lifted their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.88.

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.