El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give El Pollo Loco an average recommendation of "Hold" (5 hold, 2 buy) with a mean 1-year price target of about $12.88, though Benchmark and others recently upgraded to Buy and set targets of $13–$14.
• The company posted a quarterly beat with EPS $0.25 vs. $0.21 expected and revenue of $123.5M (vs. $122.2M), reporting a 5.4% net margin and 10.39% ROE.
• LOCO shares opened at $14.12 (near the 52-week high $14.50) with a market cap of $423M and a P/E of 15.69, and institutional investors own about 81.3% of the stock.

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.8750.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LOCO shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen raised El Pollo Loco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Benchmark upgraded El Pollo Loco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 85.0% in the 2nd 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. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 89.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $97,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co. bought a new position in El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter worth about $106,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company's stock.

El Pollo Loco Stock Up 0.1%

LOCO stock opened at $14.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $423.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 1.00. El Pollo Loco has a 1-year low of $8.29 and a 1-year high of $14.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.04. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The company had revenue of $123.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.18 million. Research analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

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.

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