El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Director Samuel N. Borgese Sells 1,000 Shares

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Director Samuel N. Borgese sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.19, for a total transaction of $10,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 33,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,532.18. This trade represents a 2.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 0.2 %

El Pollo Loco stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $9.28. The company had a trading volume of 486,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,281. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.35. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.17 and a 12-month high of $14.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $11.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.01.

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 business had revenue of $114.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOCO. LSV Asset Management grew its position in El Pollo Loco by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,533,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,695,000 after acquiring an additional 266,908 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,454 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,230,000 after buying an additional 34,399 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 618,829 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,141,000 after buying an additional 40,012 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in El Pollo Loco by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 593,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,130,000 after buying an additional 14,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 456,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,267,000 after acquiring an additional 45,134 shares during the last quarter. 81.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on LOCO. StockNews.com lowered shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Craig Hallum assumed coverage on El Pollo Loco in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company.

About El Pollo Loco

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.