El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sells 75,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of El Pollo Loco on July 13 at an average price of $16.74, totaling about $1.26 million. After the sale, he still held 3.56 million shares, though his ownership dropped by 2.06%.
• The insider has been actively selling shares recently, with multiple additional transactions in late June and early July, including sales of 100,000 shares on both June 26 and June 29 and 132,421 shares on July 1.
• El Pollo Loco’s stock has been trading near its 52-week high at $16.87, while the company also recently beat earnings estimates and authorized a $40 million share buyback, signaling management confidence in the stock.

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.74, for a total transaction of $1,255,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,560,454 shares in the company, valued at $59,601,999.96. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Sardar Biglari also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 2nd, Sardar Biglari sold 9,525 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.92, for a total value of $161,163.00.
• On Wednesday, July 1st, Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was 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 shares were 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.
• On Friday, June 26th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.75, for a total value of $1,675,000.00.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LOCO traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.87. The company had a trading volume of 25,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,782. The firm has a market cap of $513.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 0.78. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $14.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.03. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $8.98 and a one year high of $17.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.34.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.87% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The business had revenue of $126.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $122.02 million. On average, research analysts predict that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 28th that permits the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 97.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 301,505 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,114,000 after purchasing an additional 148,738 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 15.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 247,098 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,425,000 after purchasing an additional 33,195 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 74.2% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 58,509 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 24,923 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 0.8% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 110,667 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,534,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 203.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 635,468 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $8,808,000 after buying an additional 426,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LOCO. Wall Street Zen upgraded El Pollo Loco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Benchmark boosted their price target on El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded El Pollo Loco from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. DA Davidson increased their target price 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. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of El Pollo Loco to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, El Pollo Loco currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $14.88.

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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