El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock Passes Above Fifty Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• LOCO cleared its 50-day moving average — the 50‑day MA is $12.84, the stock traded as high as $13.95 and last at $13.79 on volume of 236,101 shares.
• Analyst and fundamental picture is mixed — the consensus rating is "Hold" (2 Buys, 5 Holds) with an average target of $13.38 while Benchmark raised its target to $16, and the company recently beat EPS estimates ($0.25 vs. $0.21) on $123.52M in revenue; market cap is ~$413M and institutional ownership is ~81%.

Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.84 and traded as high as $13.95. El Pollo Loco shares last traded at $13.79, with a volume of 236,101 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LOCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Friday, March 13th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research cut El Pollo Loco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $13.38.

El Pollo Loco Stock Down 0.4%

The company has a market cap of $413.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $12.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.36.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $123.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $122.18 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.39% and a net margin of 5.40%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LOCO. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 93.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,037,293 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $10,850,000 after purchasing an additional 502,378 shares during the period. Fund 1 Investments LLC increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 193.4% during the 4th quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 745,140 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,794,000 after buying an additional 491,184 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 197.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,391 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,008,000 after buying an additional 451,575 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 571,296 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,976,000 after buying an additional 211,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 788.2% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 214,123 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,077,000 after buying an additional 190,015 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.