Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO - Free Report) by 97.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 301,505 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 148,738 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.99% of El Pollo Loco worth $5,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,013,373 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $27,905,000 after acquiring an additional 12,072 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,032 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $13,580,000 after acquiring an additional 16,867 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 502,378 shares during the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 193.4% during the fourth quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 745,140 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,794,000 after purchasing an additional 491,184 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 197.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,391 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,008,000 after purchasing an additional 451,575 shares during the period. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LOCO shares. Benchmark lifted their price target on El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of El Pollo Loco to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $16.12.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on LOCO
Insider Transactions at El Pollo Loco
In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total value of $1,352,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 66,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,122,531.80. The trade was a 54.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 558,803 shares of company stock valued at $9,427,504 in the last ninety days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.
El Pollo Loco Trading Up 2.5%
NASDAQ LOCO opened at $15.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.98 and a 1-year high of $17.40. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $15.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.84. The company has a market capitalization of $462.54 million, a PE ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.78.
El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 6.96%.The business had revenue of $129.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $130.29 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
El Pollo Loco announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 28th that allows the company to repurchase $40.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
About El Pollo Loco
(
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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