Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on PTLO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Portillo’s in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Portillo’s from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird upgraded Portillo’s to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Portillo’s from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Portillo’s from $5.50 to $4.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.41.

Portillo’s Price Performance

NASDAQ PTLO opened at $6.98 on Friday. Portillo’s has a 12 month low of $3.29 and a 12 month high of $7.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $530.06 million, a PE ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.84.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $194.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.18 million. Portillo’s had a return on equity of 3.39% and a net margin of 2.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Portillo’s will post 0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Portillo’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Engaged Capital LLC grew its position in Portillo’s by 124.3% in the first quarter. Engaged Capital LLC now owns 3,442,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,213,000 after buying an additional 1,908,000 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its holdings in shares of Portillo’s by 501.5% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 269,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after buying an additional 224,486 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Portillo’s by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,454,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,893,000 after acquiring an additional 166,617 shares during the last quarter. Essential Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Portillo’s by 83,350.0% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 5,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Portillo’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $68,000. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Portillo’s News

Here are the key news stories impacting Portillo’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roth MKM maintained its Buy rating, signaling continued confidence in Portillo’s prospects. Roth MKM Sticks to Its Buy Rating for Portillo’s
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $7 from $4.50 but kept a Neutral rating; the new target implies little upside from the cited $6.98 share price. UBS raises Portillo’s price target
• Neutral Sentiment: A short-interest update reports zero shares sold short, despite describing a significant increase. That inconsistency makes the figures difficult to interpret and offers no clear signal about investor positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Portillo’s may close as many as nine restaurants despite growing sales, raising questions about location-level performance and the costs or implications of streamlining its footprint. Portillo’s Is Growing Sales. So Why Is It Closing Up to 9 Restaurants?
• Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis argues the share price already reflects the turnaround, presenting a bearish view that recent gains may leave limited room for further upside. Portillo’s: The Share Price Reflects The Turnaround – Sell

About Portillo’s

Portillo’s, Inc. operates a chain of fast-casual restaurants known for Chicago-style food. Its menu features Italian beef and Italian sausage sandwiches, Chicago-style hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, french fries, shakes and other desserts. The company traces its origins to 1963, when Dick Portillo opened a small hot dog stand called The Dog House in Villa Park, Illinois. Portillo’s has since expanded from its Chicago-area roots into a multi-state restaurant business, with locations primarily in the United States.