El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut El Pollo Loco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. DA Davidson set a $11.00 price objective on El Pollo Loco in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 1.3%

El Pollo Loco stock opened at $14.15 on Friday. El Pollo Loco has a 1 year low of $8.29 and a 1 year high of $14.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.17 and its 200-day moving average is $10.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $423.93 million, a P/E ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.00.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.04. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 10.39%. The firm had revenue of $123.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.18 million. On average, equities analysts expect that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 85.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 89.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter worth about $97,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $110,000. 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.