Sardar Biglari Sells 75,000 Shares of El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Stock

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) major shareholder Sardar Biglari sold 75,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.74, for a total transaction of $1,255,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,560,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,601,999.96. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares 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 Wednesday, July 1st, Sardar Biglari sold 132,421 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.27, for a total transaction of $2,286,910.67.
• 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 transaction of $382,166.00.
• On Monday, June 29th, Sardar Biglari sold 100,000 shares of El Pollo Loco stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.58, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $1,675,000.00.

El Pollo Loco Stock Down 0.7%

LOCO stock opened at $16.45 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.11. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.98 and a 12 month high of $17.40. The company has a market cap of $500.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79 and a beta of 0.78.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $126.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, analysts forecast that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco by 85.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,862 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 89.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the first quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in El Pollo Loco in the third quarter valued at approximately $97,000. 81.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of El Pollo Loco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of El Pollo Loco from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded El Pollo Loco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Freedom Capital upgraded El Pollo Loco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on El Pollo Loco from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.88.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

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.