El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.50.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LOCO. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of El Pollo Loco from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of El Pollo Loco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in El Pollo Loco by 85.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 31.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,229 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 89.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 2,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in El Pollo Loco during the second quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

El Pollo Loco Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ LOCO opened at $11.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $331.25 million, a P/E ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.38. El Pollo Loco has a 1 year low of $8.29 and a 1 year high of $11.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.73 and a 200 day moving average of $10.45.

About El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ: LOCO) is a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in Mexican-style fire-grilled chicken and complementary menu offerings. The company’s signature product is its marinated, flame-grilled chicken, which is prepared in an open-flame rotisserie and served in a variety of formats including tacos, burritos, bowls and salads. In addition to its core chicken offerings, El Pollo Loco menu items feature fresh-made salsas, guacamole, sides such as charro beans and fresh tortillas, as well as a selection of beverages and desserts.

Founded in 1975 in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico, by Juan Francisco Ochoa, the concept expanded into the United States in 1980 with its first U.S.