El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 9,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.92, for a total transaction of $161,163.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,635,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,511,881.68. This trade represents a 0.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 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 Wednesday, July 1st, Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total value of $2,286,910.67.
- On Tuesday, June 30th, Sardar Biglari sold 22,600 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.91, for a total transaction of $382,166.00.
- On Monday, June 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total transaction of $1,658,000.00.
- On Friday, June 26th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.75, for a total value of $1,675,000.00.
El Pollo Loco Price Performance
Shares of LOCO opened at $16.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.98 and a twelve month high of $17.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $496.33 million, a P/E ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.71 and a 200-day moving average of $12.83.
El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. The business 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.
El Pollo Loco declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco
A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 0.8% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 110,667 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,212 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 85.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 20,413 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in El Pollo Loco by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,492 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.28% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price target on El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Benchmark increased their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised El Pollo Loco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of El Pollo Loco from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $14.88.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on LOCO
About El Pollo Loco
(
Get Free Report)
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.
See Also
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
