Sardar Biglari Sells 22,600 Shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock

Key Points

• Sardar Biglari, El Pollo Loco’s major shareholder, sold 22,600 shares on June 30 at an average price of $16.91, trimming his ownership by about 0.59%. He still directly owns 3,777,400 shares valued at roughly $63.9 million.
• Biglari also sold 200,000 additional shares in two prior transactions on June 26 and June 29, bringing his recent selling total to more than 222,000 shares. The sales come as the stock has been trading near its 52-week high.
• El Pollo Loco’s shares rose 2.6% to $16.96, and the company recently topped quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $0.28 versus $0.22 expected. The board also approved a $40 million share repurchase program, while analysts currently have a consensus rating of Hold.

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 22,600 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.91, for a total value of $382,166.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,777,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,875,834. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Sardar Biglari also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, June 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total value of $1,658,000.00.
• On Friday, June 26th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.75, for a total value of $1,675,000.00.

El Pollo Loco Trading Up 2.6%

NASDAQ LOCO traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $16.96. 299,164 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 336,032. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.69. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.98 and a 1-year high of $17.00. The firm has a market cap of $516.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $126.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.02 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 5.87%. On average, equities analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

El Pollo Loco announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of El Pollo Loco from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 15.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 247,098 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,425,000 after purchasing an additional 33,195 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 74.2% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 58,509 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $811,000 after acquiring an additional 24,923 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in El Pollo Loco by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 110,667 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in El Pollo Loco by 203.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 635,468 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $8,808,000 after acquiring an additional 426,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco during the 1st quarter valued at about $88,000. Institutional investors 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.

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