Morgan Stanley Cuts Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO) Price Target to $10.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has lowered its price target for Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO) from $12.00 to $10.00 while maintaining an "equal weight" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 29.79% from the stock's previous close.
• Other analysts have different ratings for Portillo's, with William Blair giving an "outperform" rating, while Robert W. Baird and UBS have set much lower price targets of $8.00 and $9.00, respectively.
• Portillo's reported a net margin of 3.92% and achieved revenue of $188.46 million in its last quarter, which was below analysts' expectations of $197.04 million.

Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO - Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird set a $8.00 price objective on Portillo's in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Portillo's in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Portillo's from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Portillo's from $17.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Portillo's from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Portillo's Trading Down 3.9%

PTLO traded down $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $7.42. The company had a trading volume of 5,206,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,604,777. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $11.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.05. The company has a market cap of $555.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.81. Portillo's has a 12-month low of $7.20 and a 12-month high of $15.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Portillo's (NASDAQ:PTLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12. Portillo's had a net margin of 4.19% and a return on equity of 6.25%. The business had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Portillo's's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Portillo's will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michelle Greig Hook bought 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.67 per share, with a total value of $306,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,405 shares in the company, valued at $1,330,016.35. This represents a 29.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eugene I. Lee, Jr. acquired 130,250 shares of Portillo's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $7.68 per share, with a total value of $1,000,320.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 130,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,000,320. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 197,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,514,480. Company insiders own 6.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Portillo's

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTLO. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Portillo's by 4.1% in the first quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 5,973,638 shares of the company's stock worth $71,027,000 after acquiring an additional 234,475 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Portillo's by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,571,434 shares of the company's stock worth $52,371,000 after acquiring an additional 97,801 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Portillo's by 10,963.2% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,947,461 shares of the company's stock worth $58,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,902,741 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Portillo's by 53.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,413,669 shares of the company's stock worth $40,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zuckerman Investment Group LLC raised its position in Portillo's by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 1,944,983 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,283,000 after purchasing an additional 125,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company's stock.

Portillo's Company Profile

Portillo's Inc owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut French fries, homemade chocolate cakes, and chocolate cake shake. It offers its products through its website, application, and certain third-party platforms.