El Pollo Loco’s (LOCO) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by equities researchers at Benchmark in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of LOCO traded down $0.22 on Monday, hitting $10.41. 52,728 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 214,366. El Pollo Loco has a 1 year low of $8.17 and a 1 year high of $14.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $11.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.52 million, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.06. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 5.11%. The company had revenue of $114.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 91.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,094 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 0.7% in 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 period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,713 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 61,201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 2,416 shares during the last quarter. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

El Pollo Loco Company 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.