El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Price Target Raised to $18.00 at Benchmark

Key Points

• Benchmark raised its price target on El Pollo Loco to $18 from $14 and kept a buy rating, implying about 28.6% upside from the current share price.
• Other analysts are more cautious overall: Truist raised its target to $13 with a hold rating, while the broader analyst consensus remains Hold with an average target price of $13.88.
• El Pollo Loco recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, earning $0.28 per share versus $0.22 expected and revenue of $126.18 million versus $122.02 million estimated.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Benchmark from $14.00 to $18.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Benchmark's target price would suggest a potential upside of 28.63% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on LOCO. Truist Financial upped their target price on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. DA Davidson set a $11.00 price target on 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 research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $13.88.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

Shares of El Pollo Loco stock traded up $0.48 on Friday, hitting $13.99. The stock had a trading volume of 904,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 285,685. El Pollo Loco has a twelve month low of $8.87 and a twelve month high of $15.90. The business's 50 day moving average is $13.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $420.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 0.79.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 5.40%.The company had revenue of $126.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.02 million. Analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,212 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 85.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 17.7% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,590 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,048 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 11.5% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 20,413 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,492 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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