El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) Releases Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16, Briefing.com reports. El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 5.87%. The business had revenue of $112.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis.

El Pollo Loco Price Performance

LOCO traded down $0.05 on Friday, hitting $9.01. 122,445 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 208,127. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.90. The firm has a market cap of $296.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 1.40. El Pollo Loco has a one year low of $8.11 and a one year high of $12.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On El Pollo Loco

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOCO. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in El Pollo Loco during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Point72 Middle East FZE increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 347.2% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE now owns 3,081 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 2,392 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in El Pollo Loco by 120.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,300 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in El Pollo Loco by 73.1% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,755 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in El Pollo Loco by 359.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,459 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 4,270 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.64% of the company’s stock.

El Pollo Loco Company Profile

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc, develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco name. It operates franchised restaurants located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Utah, and Louisiana. It also licenses its brand to restaurants in the Philippines.