Morgan Stanley Lowers Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) Price Target to $13.00

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $15.00 to $13.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PTLO. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Portillo’s from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Portillo’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Portillo’s in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Portillo’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.57.

Portillo’s Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PTLO opened at $11.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $886.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 1.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $10.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Portillo’s has a 1-year low of $8.38 and a 1-year high of $16.17.

Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.05. Portillo’s had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 5.62%. The firm had revenue of $178.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. Portillo’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Portillo’s will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Portillo’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PTLO. Engaged Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Portillo’s by 121.5% during the 3rd quarter. Engaged Capital LLC now owns 6,114,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354,513 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Portillo’s by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,788,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,086,000 after acquiring an additional 175,999 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Portillo’s by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,291,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,838,000 after acquiring an additional 32,810 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Portillo’s by 29.4% during the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 1,272,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,137,000 after acquiring an additional 288,675 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Portillo’s by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,270,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,113,000 after acquiring an additional 49,181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

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.