El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Earns “Hold” Rating from Benchmark

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by investment analysts at Benchmark in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

Shares of LOCO stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $10.41. The company had a trading volume of 52,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 214,366. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $11.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.46. The firm has a market cap of $311.52 million, a PE ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.31. El Pollo Loco has a one year low of $8.17 and a one year high of $14.25.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $114.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 million. Sell-side analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 91.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,094 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 235.6% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,389 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 5,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $107,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.