Bank of America Corp DE Grows Stake in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO)

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 55.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 244,701 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,287 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.82% of El Pollo Loco worth $2,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 198,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in El Pollo Loco by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,713 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in El Pollo Loco by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 61,201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in El Pollo Loco by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 22,508 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 3,262 shares during the period. Finally, Rodgers Brothers Inc. increased its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 214,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

NASDAQ LOCO opened at $10.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.84 million, a P/E ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 1.11. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.29 and a 1 year high of $14.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $9.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.31.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 5.11%. The firm had revenue of $119.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LOCO shares. Craig Hallum started coverage on El Pollo Loco in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Monday, March 10th.

El Pollo Loco Profile

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc, develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco name. It operates and franchises restaurants located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, and Louisiana. It also licenses its brand to restaurants in the Philippines.