Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 1,278,526 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the previous session’s volume of 1,559,100 shares.The stock last traded at $11.76 and had previously closed at $10.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PTLO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Portillo’s from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Portillo’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Portillo’s in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Portillo’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.57.

Portillo’s Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $852.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 1.72.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.05. Portillo’s had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 5.62%. The business had revenue of $178.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. Portillo’s’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Portillo’s Inc. will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Portillo’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PTLO. Engaged Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Portillo’s by 121.5% in the third quarter. Engaged Capital LLC now owns 6,114,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,368,000 after acquiring an additional 3,354,513 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Portillo’s by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,788,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,086,000 after purchasing an additional 175,999 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Portillo’s by 2.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,291,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,838,000 after buying an additional 32,810 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Portillo’s by 29.4% during the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 1,272,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,137,000 after buying an additional 288,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Portillo’s by 4.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,113,000 after buying an additional 49,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Portillo’s Company Profile

Portillo’s Inc owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut French fries, homemade chocolate cakes, and chocolate cake shake. It offers its products through its website, application, and certain third-party platforms.