El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total transaction of $1,658,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,800,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,004,000. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company's stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.
Sardar Biglari also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Tuesday, June 30th, Sardar Biglari sold 22,600 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.91, for a total transaction of $382,166.00.
- On Friday, June 26th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.75, for a total transaction of $1,675,000.00.
El Pollo Loco Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ LOCO traded up $0.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.96. 299,164 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 336,032. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $14.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.69. The stock has a market cap of $516.43 million, a P/E ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 0.81. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.98 and a 12-month high of $17.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.
El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $126.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $122.02 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
El Pollo Loco declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LOCO. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,013,373 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $27,905,000 after purchasing an additional 12,072 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,032 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $13,580,000 after purchasing an additional 16,867 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 93.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,037,293 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $10,850,000 after buying an additional 502,378 shares in the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC increased its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 193.4% in the fourth quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 745,140 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $7,794,000 after buying an additional 491,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 741,793 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,195,000 after buying an additional 15,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms have commented on LOCO. Truist Financial upped their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $14.88.
Check Out Our Latest Report on LOCO
About El Pollo Loco
(
Get Free Report)
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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