El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (LOCO) Valuation

Valuation

Model-based estimates, not advice. The DCF is the discounted-cash-flow value per share; compare it with the price, not as a target.

DCF fair value

-46.5%

$8.33

vs $15.57 price

Levered DCF

$9.67

After debt service

Piotroski score

8 / 9

Strong

Altman Z-score

2.08

Grey zone

Rating

B+

Overall 3 / 5

Ratios by fiscal year

Margins and yields are shares of revenue, equity or price; multiples are ×.

Metric	FY2025	FY2024	FY2023	FY2022	FY2021	FY2020	FY2019	FY2018
P/E	11.49×	13.73×	11.76×	17.47×	17.52×	25.86×	22.26×	-65.96×
P/B	1.05×	1.35×	1.21×	1.29×	1.64×	2.29×	2.27×	2.21×
P/S	0.62×	0.75×	0.64×	0.77×	1.12×	1.49×	1.26×	1.34×
EV / EBITDA	9.3×	10.77×	10.31×	13.22×	12.65×	17.63×	14.43×	71.4×
Gross margin	28.6%	21.9%	19.9%	17.8%	21.8%	22.0%	21.9%	22.1%
Operating margin	8.7%	8.7%	8.5%	6.4%	9.1%	7.9%	8.7%	-2.2%
Net margin	5.4%	5.4%	5.5%	4.4%	6.4%	5.7%	5.6%	-2.1%
Current ratio	0.08×	0.26×	0.35×	0.55×	0.66×	0.48×	0.33×	0.27×
Debt / equity	0.82×	1.01×	1.09×	0.9×	0.75×	0.95×	1.27×	0.28×
Interest coverage	9.5×	6.98×	8.27×	17.96×	22.66×	10.19×	10.39×	-2.7×
Dividend yield	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	15.3%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Payout ratio	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	267.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%

Key metrics by fiscal year

Metric	FY2025	FY2024	FY2023	FY2022	FY2021	FY2020	FY2019	FY2018
Return on equity	9.1%	9.9%	10.2%	7.4%	9.4%	8.8%	10.1%	-3.4%
Return on invested capital	5.5%	5.0%	5.4%	4.0%	5.5%	4.9%	4.9%	-1.9%
Return on assets	4.4%	4.3%	4.3%	3.5%	4.7%	4.0%	4.0%	-2.0%
Free cash flow yield	8.3%	7.9%	6.4%	5.1%	6.9%	5.3%	3.7%	3.0%
Earnings yield	8.7%	7.3%	8.5%	5.7%	5.7%	3.8%	4.5%	-1.5%
Enterprise value	$539.4M	$613.1M	$568.2M	$594.4M	$713.9M	$886.9M	$859.2M	$652.4M
Net debt / EBITDA	4.02×	4.58×	4.83×	5.17×	3.6×	4.97×	5.09×	7.36×
Cash conversion cycle (days)	-8	-2	-2	-1	2	5	4	0