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Company Analysis

El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. LOCO

A comprehensive view of key metrics, scores, and financial health for El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.

Overview of El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.

LOCO NMS
Consumer Cyclical Restaurants Small Cap
El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (LOCO), is a Small Cap company, in the Restaurants industry, last closed at $12.72, about 31.4% undervalued vs fair value, +25.2% 1Y return, ranked 308/539 in sector.
$12.72
16.91%
As of March 13, 2026
Previous close • Vol 90d: 42.8%
52-Week Range
Market Cap
$332.95M
Enterprise Value
$574.42M
Overall Score
Scores locked

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Top Beats
No strong beats yet

Quick Facts

Website https://www.elpolloloco.com
HQ Costa Mesa, CA
Employees 4,143
Fiscal year Dec 31

Next Events

No upcoming events available.

Fair Value Snapshot

Bear Base Bull
$14
$17
$20
Current: $12.72 +31% vs base

Engine Room Money Flow™

Small Cap

Corporate Free Cash Flow - Where revenue goes and how value is created

Flow Steps
Revenue
$473.0M
0.9%%
Gross Profit
$103.5M
10.5%%
Operating Income
$41.5M
14%%
Net Income
$25.7M
0.5%%
Money Flow Bridge
Flow Direction: Money moves from left to right
Components: Breakdown shows composition of each stage
Industry-Specific: Corporate Free Cash Flow

Quality & Reliability Indicators

Cash Conversion Ratio
107.8%
Excellent

FCF / Net Income - measures how well earnings convert to cash

Locked Metric
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Owner's Pocket - Capital Allocation

Total Returned to Shareholders

Combined dividends, buybacks, and debt reduction

$33.8M
121.9% of FCF

Where It Leaks

Cash Flow Health some concerns
Moderate efficiency issues detected. Review active leaks below for improvement areas.
3
Active Leaks
3/3
Improving
0
High Impact
0
Critical
Locked Leak
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Locked Leak
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Moat Analysis Corporate Default

Competitive Advantage Assessment

Evaluating El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.'s durable competitive advantages across 6 defense dimensions

Overall Moat Strength
63
/100
Moderate
Scores based on quantitative metrics and qualitative factors

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Pricing Power

Moderate
64
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For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.

Trade-Off Ledger™

Where management spends the performance budget - Growth, Profitability, or Safety

Generic Industrial / Default vs Industry Peers 100% Coverage
Trade-Off Triangle Visualization A ternary plot showing LOCO's balance between Growth (28.1%), Profitability (41.5%), and Safety (30.3%). Growth 28% Safety 30% Profitability 42%

Click axes to expand details. Marker shows current allocation.

3-Year Trend Analysis Locked
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Growth

41th percentile vs peers
42
Key Signals
EPS Growth YoY 15.0% 66p Rev Growth YoY 0.9% 32p EPS CAGR 3Y 2.3% 53p Revenue CAGR 3Y 1.4% 26p TSR -10.4% 40p
Strengths
  • Superior capital returns - 2 return metrics above peer median
  • Consistently strong margins across 5 metrics
  • Conservative leverage compared to industry peers
Risks

No significant risks identified for this axis.

Profitability

61th percentile vs peers
62
Key Signals
Strengths
Risks
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Safety

45th percentile vs peers
45
Key Signals
Strengths
Safety drilldowns are available to premium members.

Two Futures

Scenario-based fair value ranges for El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc..

Loading valuation model...
Unable to Compute Fair Value

This company cannot be valued using standard models.

What this means: The Scenario Theatre requires financial data (revenue, cash flow, shares outstanding) to calculate fair value estimates. This data may be unavailable for:

  • Recently listed companies (IPOs, SPACs)
  • Shell companies or holding companies
  • Companies that haven't filed recent financials
  • Foreign companies with limited data coverage
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Bear
-
- - -
- upside
-
Base
$16.72
- - -
+31.4% vs current
Snapshot base estimate
Bull
-
- - -
- upside
-
Fair Value Range Current: $-
$- $- $-
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