Sardar Biglari Sells 1,100 Shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.06, for a total value of $18,766.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 65,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,776.32. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Major 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 Wednesday, August 5th, Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total value of $1,352,000.00.
• 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 transaction 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 transaction of $183,810.00.
• On Monday, July 13th, Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was 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 shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total value 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 value of $382,166.00.
• On Monday, June 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total value of $1,658,000.00.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

El Pollo Loco stock traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.83. 310,847 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 298,673. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.98 and a 12-month high of $17.40. The business’s 50-day moving average is $15.95 and its 200-day moving average is $13.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $451.65 million, a PE ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.78.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.02. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 6.96%.The business had revenue of $129.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.29 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 28th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LOCO. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson raised their target price on El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Freedom Capital upgraded El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, El Pollo Loco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.12.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LOCO. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,296 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,976,000 after buying an additional 211,900 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter valued at about $945,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 648.3% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 152,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,117,000 after acquiring an additional 132,351 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 11,403.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 115,037 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 114,037 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the first quarter worth about $789,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently 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.