El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Director Samuel N. Borgese Sells 20,011 Shares

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Director Samuel N. Borgese sold 20,011 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.06, for a total value of $221,321.66. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,846.90. This trade represents a 33.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

El Pollo Loco Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of El Pollo Loco stock traded down $0.02 on Monday, hitting $9.28. The company had a trading volume of 486,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,281. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.17 and a twelve month high of $14.25. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.19 and a 200-day moving average of $12.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.33 million, a P/E ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.35.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $114.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 5.11%. Research analysts predict that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,533,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,695,000 after purchasing an additional 266,908 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in El Pollo Loco by 332.2% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 289,739 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,344,000 after buying an additional 222,704 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 392.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 228,816 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after acquiring an additional 182,366 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 453,422 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,232,000 after acquiring an additional 159,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,146,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LOCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st.

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.