Ellsworth Advisors LLC Buys 67,766 Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. $LOCO

Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 67,766 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $972,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.22% of El Pollo Loco as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LOCO. Biglari Capital CORP. acquired a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter valued at $64,064,704. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,716,000. Tieton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter worth $17,535,000. Biglari Sardar acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter worth $8,297,629. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in El Pollo Loco by 203.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 635,468 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,808,000 after buying an additional 426,320 shares during the period. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.90, for a total value of $1,352,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,122,531.80. This represents a 54.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 108,257 shares of company stock valued at $1,824,954. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on LOCO. DA Davidson lifted their target price on El Pollo Loco from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Benchmark increased their price target on El Pollo Loco from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised El Pollo Loco from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Freedom Capital raised El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Roth Capital started coverage on El Pollo Loco in a report on Friday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, El Pollo Loco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.30.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

Shares of LOCO opened at $16.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $496.62 million, a P/E ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 0.77. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.98 and a twelve month high of $17.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $15.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.98.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. El Pollo Loco had a net margin of 6.96% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company had revenue of $129.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.29 million. On average, analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc operates and franchises quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco brand. The company specializes in Mexican-inspired meals centered on citrus-marinated, fire-grilled chicken, prepared using traditional cooking methods. Its menu includes chicken meals, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, salads, bowls, family meals and a variety of side dishes, beverages and desserts.

El Pollo Loco was founded in 1975 in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, and opened its first restaurant in the United States in 1980.