Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) Trading 4.5% Higher – What’s Next?

Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) shares were up 4.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $12.83 and last traded at $12.81. Approximately 217,953 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 1,040,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PTLO. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Portillo’s from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Portillo’s from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stephens downgraded Portillo’s from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Portillo’s from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Portillo’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.86.

Portillo’s Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $931.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.25.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.01). Portillo’s had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 3.30%. The firm had revenue of $181.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.44 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Portillo’s Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PTLO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Portillo’s by 14.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,402,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,604,000 after purchasing an additional 700,583 shares during the period. Engaged Capital LLC raised its holdings in Portillo’s by 38.7% in the 2nd quarter. Engaged Capital LLC now owns 2,760,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,832,000 after acquiring an additional 770,443 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Portillo’s by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,612,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,670,000 after acquiring an additional 39,466 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its position in Portillo’s by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 983,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,560,000 after acquiring an additional 41,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust boosted its holdings in Portillo’s by 2.6% during the second quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 804,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,821,000 after acquiring an additional 20,195 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Portillo’s Company Profile

Portillo’s Inc owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut French fries, homemade chocolate cakes, and chocolate cake shake. It offers its products through its website, application, and certain third-party platforms.