El Pollo Loco’s (LOCO) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by Benchmark in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

LOCO has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th.

El Pollo Loco Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LOCO traded down $0.18 on Thursday, hitting $10.40. 27,724 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 298,497. El Pollo Loco has a 1-year low of $8.11 and a 1-year high of $11.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $323.44 million, a PE ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $9.35 and its 200 day moving average is $9.04.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.08. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 5.64%. The business had revenue of $116.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that El Pollo Loco will post 0.71 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LOCO. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 285.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,338 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 6,176 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 1,074.7% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $97,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $106,000. 81.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.