William Blair Comments on El Pollo Loco FY2026 Earnings

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) – Research analysts at William Blair issued their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for El Pollo Loco in a research report issued on Monday, January 20th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia forecasts that the restaurant operator will earn $0.99 per share for the year. The consensus estimate for El Pollo Loco’s current full-year earnings is $0.83 per share.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

El Pollo Loco stock opened at $11.36 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.48. El Pollo Loco has a 52 week low of $8.17 and a 52 week high of $14.25. The stock has a market cap of $339.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 1.47. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $120.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.03 million. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Biglari Sardar lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 307.7% during the third quarter. Biglari Sardar now owns 489,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,703,000 after purchasing an additional 369,247 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in El Pollo Loco by 372.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 70,409 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 55,510 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 22.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 411,298 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,635,000 after buying an additional 75,542 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in El Pollo Loco during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,056,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 99.2% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 60,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $829,000 after acquiring an additional 30,143 shares in the last quarter. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.