El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LOCO. Weiss Ratings upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One research 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.12.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $15.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $472.88 million, a PE ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.05 and its 200 day moving average is $13.89. El Pollo Loco has a 52 week low of $8.98 and a 52 week high of $17.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

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

El Pollo Loco announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 28th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at El Pollo Loco

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total transaction of $2,286,910.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,644,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,948,787.33. This represents a 3.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 558,803 shares of company stock worth $9,427,504. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake 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 during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 89.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the first quarter valued at about $88,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.