El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) to Repurchase $40.00 million in Stock

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 28th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on LOCO. Benchmark lifted their target price on El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, El Pollo Loco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.88.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of LOCO traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $13.95. The stock had a trading volume of 245,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 353,195. El Pollo Loco has a 52 week low of $8.98 and a 52 week high of $15.90. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $13.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.95. The company has a market capitalization of $424.78 million, a P/E ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.79.

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

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.