El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Acquires $586,557.99 in Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari acquired 43,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.59 per share, for a total transaction of $586,557.99. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 364,731 shares in the company, valued at $4,956,694.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Sardar Biglari also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 19th, Sardar Biglari bought 62,329 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.46 per share, with a total value of $838,948.34.
• On Friday, August 16th, Sardar Biglari purchased 21,325 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.13 per share, for a total transaction of $279,997.25.
• On Wednesday, August 14th, Sardar Biglari acquired 62,362 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.47 per share, with a total value of $777,654.14.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

NASDAQ LOCO opened at $13.81 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $11.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.37. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.11 and a 1 year high of $14.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $429.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 1.48.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.05. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 5.76%. The business had revenue of $122.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter worth $685,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in El Pollo Loco by 321.8% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 145,498 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 111,000 shares during the period. Fund 1 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,746,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,323,373 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,890,000 after buying an additional 67,368 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 797.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 102,257 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 90,860 shares during the last quarter. 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.