Empowered Funds LLC Increases Stock Position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,003 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,442 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.56% of El Pollo Loco worth $2,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in El Pollo Loco by 34.1% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 3rd quarter valued at $120,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 1st quarter valued at $106,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of LOCO stock opened at $12.07 on Wednesday. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.17 and a 1 year high of $14.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $361.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 1.50.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.04. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $120.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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.