El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock Crosses Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $13.26 and traded as high as $13.62. El Pollo Loco shares last traded at $13.51, with a volume of 138,910 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LOCO shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $427.31 million, a P/E ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 1.49.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $122.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.39 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 5.76%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at El Pollo Loco

In other El Pollo Loco news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari purchased 43,161 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.59 per share, with a total value of $586,557.99. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 364,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,956,694.29. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired 189,177 shares of company stock valued at $2,483,158 in the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the third quarter worth $45,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 3rd quarter worth about $120,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,735,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 384.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 175,670 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 139,375 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

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.