El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $16.42 and last traded at $16.5350, with a volume of 11122 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.88.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $14.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $505.71 million, a P/E ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 0.81.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The business had revenue of $126.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.02 million. Equities analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 28th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of 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 bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased 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 valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new position in El Pollo Loco during the 1st quarter worth approximately $88,000. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $97,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.