Key Points
- Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of El Pollo Loco on July 13 at an average price of $16.74, totaling about $1.26 million. After the sale, he still directly owned 3.56 million shares.
- Biglari has been actively trimming his stake, with several additional sales in late June and early July, including a 132,421-share sale on July 1 and two 100,000-share sales on June 26 and June 29.
- El Pollo Loco shares were down 1.1% on the day cited, while the company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and authorized a $40 million share buyback program.
El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.74, for a total transaction of $1,255,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,560,454 shares in the company, valued at $59,601,999.96. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company's shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.
Sardar Biglari also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Thursday, July 2nd, Sardar Biglari sold 9,525 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.92, for a total transaction of $161,163.00.
- On Wednesday, July 1st, Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total transaction of $2,286,910.67.
- On Tuesday, June 30th, Sardar Biglari sold 22,600 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.91, for a total value 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 value of $1,658,000.00.
- On Friday, June 26th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.75, for a total value of $1,675,000.00.
El Pollo Loco Stock Down 1.1%
NASDAQ LOCO opened at $16.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $504.33 million, a P/E ratio of 16.90 and a beta of 0.78. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.98 and a 52 week high of $17.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.06 and a 200-day moving average of $13.07.
El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.
El Pollo Loco announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 28th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of El Pollo Loco from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $14.88.
View Our Latest Stock Report on El Pollo Loco
Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 85.0% during the 2nd 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 stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 89.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the first quarter valued at about $88,000. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the third quarter valued at about $97,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
El Pollo Loco Company Profile
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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.
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