El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) shares jumped 15.7% on October 12 after the company declared a special dividend of $1.50 per share. The special dividend is payable on November 9 to shareholders of record on October 24.
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Based in California, El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. owns and manages, as well as franchises and licenses, a chain of quick-service restaurants specializing in chicken meals under the El Pollo Loco brand in the U.S.
Over and above the special dividend, the board of directors also announced a new share repurchase program to buy back shares up to $20 million, effective immediately.
Sharing his optimism and thoughts on the business fundamentals, El Pollo Loco’s Chairman, Michael Maselli, commented, “Despite the challenges over the last couple of years we have continued to build our balance sheet and believe it is time to once again return capital to our shareholders reflecting our low leverage, asset light growth strategy and anticipated positive cash flow in the coming years.”
Is LOCO Stock a Buy?
As per TipRanks, analysts are cautiously optimistic about the stock and have a Moderate Buy consensus rating, which is based on one Buy and two Holds. El Pollo LoCo stock’s average price forecast of $12.50 implies 18.7% upside potential.
In contrast, LOCO stock has a negative signal from hedge fund managers, who sold 544,300 shares last quarter.
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