Empowered Funds LLC Invests $4.19 Million in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. $LOCO

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 246,867 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,187,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 85.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at about $48,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 89.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $15.27 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $464.67 million, a P/E ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.30. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.98 and a twelve month high of $17.40.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $129.57 million for 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark boosted their price target on El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen cut El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco 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 directly owned 3,644,979 shares in the company, valued at $62,948,787.33. The trade was a 3.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 558,803 shares of company stock worth $9,427,504. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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.