El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,040,000 shares, a decrease of 20.0% from the July 31st total of 1,300,000 shares. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 274,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at El Pollo Loco

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari acquired 43,161 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.59 per share, for a total transaction of $586,557.99. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 364,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,956,694.29. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in El Pollo Loco during the fourth quarter valued at $685,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 321.8% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 145,498 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 111,000 shares during the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco during the fourth quarter valued at $7,746,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 5.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,323,373 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,890,000 after purchasing 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% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 102,257 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 90,860 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on LOCO. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

LOCO traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 175,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 299,504. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $11.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.41. El Pollo Loco has a 12 month low of $8.11 and a 12 month high of $14.25. The stock has a market cap of $414.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 10.33%. The company had revenue of $122.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. El Pollo Loco’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that El Pollo Loco will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.