Insider Selling: El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Major Shareholder Sells $2,286,910.67 in Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total transaction of $2,286,910.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,644,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,948,787.33. This trade represents a 3.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Sardar Biglari also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 2nd, Sardar Biglari sold 9,525 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.92, for a total transaction of $161,163.00.
• On Tuesday, June 30th, Sardar Biglari sold 22,600 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.91, for a total value of $382,166.00.
• On Monday, June 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total value of $1,658,000.00.
• On Friday, June 26th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.75, for a total value of $1,675,000.00.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

LOCO stock opened at $16.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $496.33 million, a PE ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.83. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.98 and a 12-month high of $17.40.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $126.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.02 million. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 5.87%. As a group, research analysts predict that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

El Pollo Loco announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 28th that allows the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of El Pollo Loco

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,013,373 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,905,000 after purchasing an additional 12,072 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $13,580,000 after purchasing an additional 16,867 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 93.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,037,293 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,850,000 after buying an additional 502,378 shares during the period. Fund 1 Investments LLC increased its stake in El Pollo Loco by 193.4% during the 4th quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 745,140 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,794,000 after buying an additional 491,184 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 197.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 680,391 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,008,000 after buying an additional 451,575 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LOCO shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, El Pollo Loco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.88.

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.