El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

El Pollo Loco Stock Up 0.5 %

LOCO stock opened at $11.47 on Wednesday. El Pollo Loco has a one year low of $8.17 and a one year high of $14.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $343.41 million, a P/E ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.31.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $120.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.03 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 5.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 89.6% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 84,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 39,824 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,713 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 411,298 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,635,000 after purchasing an additional 75,542 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 372.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 70,409 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 55,510 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 49.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 65,845 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 21,770 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 Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc, develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco name. It operates and franchises restaurants located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, and Louisiana. It also licenses its brand to restaurants in the Philippines.