El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

LOCO opened at $11.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $351.80 million, a P/E ratio of 14.87 and a beta of 1.47. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.48. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $120.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.03 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 5.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that El Pollo Loco will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,094 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,606 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,713 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

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.