El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) released its earnings results on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 5.76%. The business had revenue of $120.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LOCO traded down $0.26 on Friday, reaching $11.96. 470,611 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 281,298. El Pollo Loco has a 52 week low of $8.15 and a 52 week high of $14.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.94 million, a P/E ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 1.49.

Insider Activity at El Pollo Loco

In related news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari purchased 62,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.47 per share, with a total value of $777,654.14. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 87,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,089,404.14. This trade represents a 200.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders purchased 189,177 shares of company stock worth $2,483,158 in the last ninety days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on LOCO. Truist Financial increased their price objective on El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday.

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.