El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sardar Biglari Sells 80,000 Shares

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total value of $1,352,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 66,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,122,531.80. The trade was a 54.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• 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 stock was 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 shares were sold at an average price of $16.71, for a total value of $183,810.00.
• On Monday, July 13th, Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were 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 stock was 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.
• 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 Up 2.8%

LOCO traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 327,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,452. The firm has a market capitalization of $517.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.98 and a 1 year high of $17.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.82 and its 200-day moving average is $13.65.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $122.02 million. As a group, research analysts expect that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

El Pollo Loco declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LOCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Freedom Capital raised El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.88.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,013,373 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,905,000 after purchasing an additional 12,072 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,580,000 after buying an additional 16,867 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in El Pollo Loco by 93.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,037,293 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,850,000 after buying an additional 502,378 shares during the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 193.4% during the 4th quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 745,140 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,794,000 after acquiring an additional 491,184 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 197.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,008,000 after acquiring an additional 451,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.