Insider Selling: El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sells $18,766.00 in Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.06, for a total value of $18,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 65,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,776.32. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Wednesday, August 5th, Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total value of $1,352,000.00.
• On Monday, August 3rd, Sardar Biglari sold 20,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.73, for a total value of $334,600.00.
• On Thursday, July 30th, Sardar Biglari sold 546 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.70, for a total value of $9,118.20.
• On Wednesday, July 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 6,611 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total value of $110,469.81.
• On Friday, July 17th, Sardar Biglari sold 11,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total transaction of $183,810.00.
• On Monday, July 13th, Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.74, for a total transaction of $1,255,500.00.
• 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 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 stock was 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 shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total transaction of $1,658,000.00.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

Shares of LOCO stock opened at $15.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $470.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day moving average is $16.02 and its 200 day moving average is $13.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.98 and a 52-week high of $17.40.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $129.57 million during 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LOCO. Weiss Ratings raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Freedom Capital raised shares of El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.12.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 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 valued at $1,534,000 after buying an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,212 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings 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 worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 11.5% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 20,413 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,492 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,214 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

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.