El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.1250.

Several research analysts recently commented on LOCO shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Benchmark upped 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 note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th.

El Pollo Loco Trading Up 4.3%

NASDAQ LOCO opened at $16.03 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $487.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.07. El Pollo Loco has a one year low of $8.98 and a one year high of $17.40.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $129.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.29 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 6.96% and a return on equity of 10.87%. Equities research analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 28th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total transaction of $1,352,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 66,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,122,531.80. The trade was a 54.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 558,803 shares of company stock worth $9,427,504. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,976,000 after buying an additional 211,900 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at about $945,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 648.3% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 152,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,117,000 after acquiring an additional 132,351 shares during the last quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter worth about $17,535,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 11,403.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 115,037 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 114,037 shares during the last quarter. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.