El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO – Free Report) – Analysts at William Blair raised their FY2023 earnings per share estimates for El Pollo Loco in a report released on Monday, October 23rd. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now expects that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $0.70 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $0.69. The consensus estimate for El Pollo Loco’s current full-year earnings is $0.73 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for El Pollo Loco’s FY2024 earnings at $0.86 EPS.
Several other research analysts have also issued reports on LOCO. StockNews.com initiated coverage on El Pollo Loco in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. TheStreet lowered El Pollo Loco from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 5th.
El Pollo Loco Stock Performance
NASDAQ LOCO opened at $8.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $291.84 million, a P/E ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $9.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.42. El Pollo Loco has a fifty-two week low of $8.20 and a fifty-two week high of $13.00.
El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The restaurant operator reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.03. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 4.98%. The company had revenue of $121.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LOCO. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in El Pollo Loco by 7.7% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 47,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in El Pollo Loco by 13.6% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 16,804 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in El Pollo Loco by 487.5% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,081 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 9,195 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 16,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,804,188 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,964,000 after acquiring an additional 74,836 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.64% of the company’s stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari bought 100,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.63 per share, for a total transaction of $1,068,952.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,893,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,385,141.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John M. Roth sold 2,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.63, for a total transaction of $26,575,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 40,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $425,752.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Sardar Biglari acquired 100,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.63 per share, for a total transaction of $1,068,952.80. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,893,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,385,141.20. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.
El Pollo Loco Company Profile
El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc, develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco name. It operates franchised restaurants located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Utah, and Louisiana. It also licenses its brand to restaurants in the Philippines.
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