First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Holdings in El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO)

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its holdings in shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 75,591 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 8,483 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in El Pollo Loco were worth $872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 198,267 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,288,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of El Pollo Loco by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,713 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in El Pollo Loco by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 22,508 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 3,262 shares in the last quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. increased its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 214,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in El Pollo Loco by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 47,307 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 4,949 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Craig Hallum started coverage on El Pollo Loco in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of El Pollo Loco in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut El Pollo Loco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

El Pollo Loco Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LOCO opened at $9.02 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $271.01 million, a P/E ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.11. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.29 and a 52 week high of $14.25.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). El Pollo Loco had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 5.11%. The company had revenue of $119.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 and franchises restaurants located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, and Louisiana. It also licenses its brand to restaurants in the Philippines.