Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) Trading 5.6% Higher – Time to Buy?

Portillo’s Inc. (NASDAQ:PTLO) was up 5.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $13.85 and last traded at $14.14. Approximately 201,021 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 1,773,276 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PTLO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Portillo’s from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Portillo’s from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Portillo’s in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Portillo’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $13.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Portillo’s Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $10.31 and its 200-day moving average is $11.32.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.05. Portillo’s had a return on equity of 5.62% and a net margin of 3.65%. The company had revenue of $178.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.07 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Portillo’s Inc. will post 0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Portillo’s

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Portillo’s during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Portillo’s by 43.5% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Portillo’s during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Portillo’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Sonora Investment Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Portillo’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,000. 98.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Portillo’s

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.