El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LOCO – Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,800,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the November 30th total of 1,680,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 227,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.9 days. Approximately 9.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in El Pollo Loco by 107.2% during the 3rd quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,940 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 11,350 shares during the period. Rodgers Brothers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 161,475 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank acquired a new position in shares of El Pollo Loco in the 1st quarter valued at about $100,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 63,940 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 7,336 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of El Pollo Loco by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 181,449 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 47,030 shares during the period. 59.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

El Pollo Loco Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of LOCO opened at $9.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $369.01 million, a PE ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 1.31. El Pollo Loco has a 12 month low of $8.15 and a 12 month high of $14.79. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $10.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

El Pollo Loco Announces Dividend

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on El Pollo Loco in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock.

About El Pollo Loco

(Get Rating)

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. As of May 04, 2022, the company operated 480 restaurants comprising 189 company-operated and 291 franchised restaurants located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Utah, and Louisiana.

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