Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 132,351 Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. $LOCO

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management boosted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 648.3% in the first quarter, buying 132,351 additional shares and bringing its total to 152,767 shares worth about $2.1 million.
• El Pollo Loco reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $0.28 per share versus the $0.22 consensus and revenue of $126.18 million versus $122.02 million expected.
• The company also launched a $40 million share repurchase program, while analysts currently have a mixed outlook with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.88.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO - Free Report) by 648.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,767 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 132,351 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.51% of El Pollo Loco worth $2,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position 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 valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 11.5% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 20,413 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 2,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 89.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 2,493 shares during the period. 81.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

El Pollo Loco Stock Up 2.6%

NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $16.96 on Wednesday. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.98 and a fifty-two week high of $17.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $516.43 million, a P/E ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.34. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $14.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.69.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $126.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.02 million. On average, equities 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 has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 28th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total value of $1,658,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,800,000 shares in the company, valued at $63,004,000. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 222,600 shares of company stock worth $3,715,166 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LOCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded El Pollo Loco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded El Pollo Loco from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Truist Financial increased their price target 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. Finally, William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Friday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, El Pollo Loco currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $14.88.

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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