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El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (LOCO)

Consumer Cyclical | Restaurants | Costa Mesa, United States | NasdaqGS
16.81 USD +0.07 (0.388%) ⇧ (July 14, 2026, 9:35 a.m. EDT)
Short-term:★★⯪☆☆Long-term:★★☆☆☆Dividends:☆☆☆☆☆
Hot Take ↕ | July 11, 2026, 4:42 a.m. EDT

The investment case for El Pollo Loco is currently compromised by severe balance sheet fragility and a lack of shareholder returns. The company carries a crushing debt load relative to its equity, evidenced by a debt-to-equity ratio exceeding 77% and a precarious current ratio of just 0.34, leaving little room for operational error. Furthermore, the stock has failed to provide income, having paid no dividends over the last five years, which eliminates a key defensive buffer for investors. While the business shows signs of recovery with double-digit earnings growth and a forward P/E that appears reasonable at 15x, the multi-year price trajectory remains stubbornly negative, reflecting the market's deep skepticism regarding the sustainability of this turnaround amidst the lingering shadow of the 2022 collapse. Until the balance sheet is strengthened and consistent capital returns resume, the risk profile remains too high for a confident long-term entry.
Model Selection — Backtest MAE (log-scale, lower is better)
ModelMAE
AutoARIMA ✓0.041731
AutoETS0.041731
AutoTheta0.041734
MSTL0.042230

Forecast horizon: 45 days | Selected: AutoARIMA

Forecast Reliability
Score 41%
H-stat 13.41
Ljung-Box p 0.000
Jarque-Bera p 0.042
Excess Kurtosis -0.09
Attribute Value
Sector Consumer Cyclical
Ex Dividend Date 2022-10-20
Last Dividend Date 2022-10-20
Debt to Equity Ratio 77.016
Revenue per Share 16.988
Market Cap 511,801,280
Trailing P/E 17.15
Forward P/E 15.56
Beta 0.69
Profit Margins 5.87%
Website https://www.elpolloloco.com

As of July 11, 2026, 4:42 a.m. EDT: Speculators are positioning defensively with heavy open interest in out-of-the-money puts (strikes 8.0 and 13.0) across multiple expirations, suggesting a fear of significant downside. Conversely, call activity is sparse and concentrated near the money, with notable volume at strikes 15.0 and 16.0, indicating limited bullish conviction beyond current levels. The imbalance in open interest favors sellers betting on continued weakness.

Dividend Data

Dividend History
Date Dividend Yield %
2022-10-21 1.5 15.416239
Additional Data
exDividendDate 2022-10-21
trailingAnnualDividendRate 0.0
trailingAnnualDividendYield 0.0
lastDividendValue 1.5
lastDividendDate 2022-10-21
dividendDate 2022-11-09

Info Dump

Attribute Value
52 Week Change 0.6019139
Address1 575 Anton Blvd.
Address2 Suite 1100
All Time High 41.7
All Time Low 6.149
Ask 21.44
Ask Size 2
Audit Risk 1
Average Analyst Rating 1.7 - Buy
Average Daily Volume10 Day 261,650
Average Daily Volume3 Month 329,375
Average Volume 329,375
Average Volume10Days 261,650
Beta 0.685
Bid 12.0
Bid Size 2
Board Risk 2
Book Value 9.933
City Costa Mesa
Compensation As Of Epoch Date 1,767,139,200
Compensation Risk 5
Country United States
Crypto Tradeable 0
Currency USD
Current Price 16.805
Current Ratio 0.342
Custom Price Alert Confidence HIGH
Date Short Interest 1,782,777,600
Day High 16.805
Day Low 16.74
Debt To Equity 77.016
Display Name El Pollo Loco
Dividend Date 1,667,952,000
Earnings Call Timestamp End 1,778,185,800
Earnings Call Timestamp Start 1,778,185,800
Earnings Growth 0.433
Earnings Quarterly Growth 0.488
Earnings Timestamp 1,778,184,000
Earnings Timestamp End 1,786,046,400
Earnings Timestamp Start 1,786,046,400
Ebitda 65,427,000
Ebitda Margins 0.13163
Enterprise To Ebitda 11.293
Enterprise To Revenue 1.487
Enterprise Value 738,894,720
Eps Current Year 0.97333
Eps Forward 1.08
Eps Trailing Twelve Months 0.98
Esg Populated 0
Ex Dividend Date 1,666,310,400
Exchange NMS
Exchange Data Delayed By 0
Exchange Timezone Name America/New_York
Exchange Timezone Short Name EDT
Fifty Day Average 14.8444
Fifty Day Average Change 1.9605999
Fifty Day Average Change Percent 0.13207673
Fifty Two Week Change Percent 60.19139
Fifty Two Week High 17.4
Fifty Two Week High Change -0.5949993
Fifty Two Week High Change Percent -0.034195364
Fifty Two Week Low 8.985
Fifty Two Week Low Change 7.8200006
Fifty Two Week Low Change Percent 0.8703396
Fifty Two Week Range 8.985 - 17.4
Financial Currency USD
First Trade Date Milliseconds 1,406,295,000,000
Float Shares 25,443,574
Forward Eps 1.08
Forward P E 15.5601845
Free Cashflow 25,032,500
Full Exchange Name NasdaqGS
Full Time Employees 4,034
Gmt Off Set Milliseconds -14,400,000
Governance Epoch Date 1,782,864,000
Gross Margins 0.22905001
Gross Profits 113,848,000
Has Pre Post Market Data 1
Held Percent Insiders 0.02469
Held Percent Institutions 0.92405
Implied Shares Outstanding 30,455,298
Industry Restaurants
Industry Disp Restaurants
Industry Key restaurants
Is Earnings Date Estimate 1
Language en-US
Last Dividend Date 1,666,310,400
Last Dividend Value 1.5
Last Fiscal Year End 1,767,139,200
Long Business Summary El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc., develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco name. The company operates and franchises restaurants located in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Washington. It also licenses its brand to restaurants in the Philippines. The company was formerly known as Chicken Acquisition Corp. and changed its name to El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. in April 2014. El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California.
Long Name El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.
Market us_market
Market Cap 511,801,280
Market State REGULAR
Max Age 86,400
Message Board Id finmb_21919911
Most Recent Quarter 1,775,001,600
Net Income To Common 29,162,000
Next Fiscal Year End 1,798,675,200
Non Diluted Market Cap 510,126,241
Number Of Analyst Opinions 5
Open 16.78
Operating Cashflow 56,349,000
Operating Margins 0.09784
Overall Risk 3
Payout Ratio 0.0
Phone 714 599 5000
Previous Close 16.74
Price Eps Current Year 17.26547
Price Hint 2
Price To Book 1.6918354
Price To Sales Trailing12 Months 1.0296756
Profit Margins 0.05867
Quick Ratio 0.233
Quote Source Name Nasdaq Real Time Price
Quote Type EQUITY
Recommendation Key buy
Recommendation Mean 1.66667
Region US
Regular Market Change 0.065000534
Regular Market Change Percent 0.38829473
Regular Market Day High 16.805
Regular Market Day Low 16.74
Regular Market Day Range 16.74 - 16.805
Regular Market Open 16.78
Regular Market Previous Close 16.74
Regular Market Price 16.805
Regular Market Time 1,784,036,158
Regular Market Volume 9,548
Return On Assets 0.05111
Return On Equity 0.10265
Revenue Growth 0.059
Revenue Per Share 16.988
Sand P52 Week Change 0.20365608
Sector Consumer Cyclical
Sector Disp Consumer Cyclical
Sector Key consumer-cyclical
Share Holder Rights Risk 5
Shares Outstanding 30,455,298
Shares Percent Shares Out 0.056700002
Shares Short 1,726,687
Shares Short Previous Month Date 1,780,012,800
Shares Short Prior Month 1,784,686
Short Name El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.
Short Percent Of Float 0.068
Short Ratio 4.9
Source Interval 15
State CA
Symbol LOCO
Target High Price 22.5
Target Low Price 15.0
Target Mean Price 18.7
Target Median Price 18.0
Total Cash 3,900,000
Total Cash Per Share 0.128
Total Debt 232,972,992
Total Revenue 497,051,008
Tradeable 0
Trailing Annual Dividend Rate 0.0
Trailing Annual Dividend Yield 0.0
Trailing Eps 0.98
Trailing P E 17.147959
Trailing Peg Ratio None
Triggerable 1
Two Hundred Day Average 12.1508
Two Hundred Day Average Change 4.6542006
Two Hundred Day Average Change Percent 0.38303655
Type Disp Equity
Volume 9,548
Website https://www.elpolloloco.com
Zip 92,626