Short Interest in Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) Expands By 34.8%

Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,460,000 shares, an increase of 34.8% from the March 31st total of 4,050,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 909,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days. Currently, 9.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Portillo’s Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PTLO traded down $0.03 on Tuesday, reaching $12.18. 97,368 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 880,131. The company has a market capitalization of $888.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.39, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.85. Portillo’s has a twelve month low of $11.53 and a twelve month high of $23.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.33 and a 200-day moving average of $14.37.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.08. Portillo’s had a return on equity of 4.79% and a net margin of 2.71%. The business had revenue of $187.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 EPS. Portillo’s’s quarterly revenue was up 24.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Portillo’s will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens initiated coverage on Portillo’s in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Portillo’s from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Portillo’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Portillo’s

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Portillo’s by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,572,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,300,000 after purchasing an additional 286,618 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Portillo’s by 241.0% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 3,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 2,694 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Portillo’s by 16.6% during the first quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 3,001 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new position in Portillo’s in the first quarter valued at $2,074,000. Finally, Lakewood Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Portillo’s by 120.5% during the first quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 112,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,590,000 after acquiring an additional 61,282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

About Portillo’s

Portillo's Inc owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut French fries, homemade chocolate cakes, and chocolate cake shake. It offers its products through its website, application, and certain third-party platforms.