Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.50.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PTLO shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Portillo’s from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and set a $6.00 target price (down previously from $8.00) on shares of Portillo’s in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Portillo’s in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 price target (down from $14.00) on shares of Portillo’s in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Portillo’s from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Institutional Trading of Portillo’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Portillo’s by 731.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 156,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,864,000 after buying an additional 137,854 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Portillo’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $318,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Portillo’s by 5.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,808 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Portillo’s by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 82,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Portillo’s by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. now owns 311,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,636,000 after purchasing an additional 79,383 shares during the period. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Portillo’s Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PTLO opened at $5.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $397.25 million, a PE ratio of 14.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 1.74. Portillo’s has a 1 year low of $4.41 and a 1 year high of $15.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.02). Portillo’s had a net margin of 3.35% and a return on equity of 4.99%. The firm had revenue of $181.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.77 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Portillo’s will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Portillo’s

Portillo’s, Inc operates a fast‐casual restaurant chain best known for its Chicago‐style menu, featuring Italian beef sandwiches, Chicago‐style hot dogs, char‐grilled burgers, salads, crinkle‐cut fries and hand‐spun milkshakes. In addition to its signature sandwiches and dogs, the company offers a selection of desserts—including its famous chocolate cake and frozen custard—as well as catering services designed to bring its Midwestern flavors to corporate and social events.

The company was founded in 1963 by Dick Portillo, who opened the first Portillo’s in Villa Park, Illinois.