El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. · Restaurants

LOCO

Low riskNext report: In 1 days (est.)

View price ↗

The short version

A profitable company with steady sales. Institutions are adding.

Going well

Profitable
Brings in more cash than it spends
Buying back shares: share count down 20% in 3 years

Money moves

Insiders sold $422K in the last 30 days
Institutions added 12% to their holdings in the quarter ending June 2026 (89 bought, 54 sold)

Facts from SEC filings, not a recommendation.

What the price means

Price as of Oct 26

$14.58+1.1% that day

Company value: $444M; Share price times all shares
Price vs profit (P/E): 12.5x; You pay about $12 for each $1 of yearly profit
Price vs sales: 0.89x; Company value is 0.89 times a year of sales
Cash vs value: 3%; Cash as a share of company value
Debt vs value: 11%; Debt as a share of company value

From LOCO's last IEX trade and its SEC filings (profits and sales over the last four quarters). A starting point for research, not a verdict.

The business over time

Last 12 quarters, from SEC filings

Sales, Jul '26

$129.6M+3.0% vs a year earlier

Sep '23Tap a barJul '26

Last 12 months: $500.8M, up 4.4% from the 12 months before. Over 5 years, sales grew about 2.8% a year.

What the price assumes

Your guesses, our math

Move the sliders to your own view of LOCO. Starting points are the company's recent numbers.

Sales growth+4% a yearRecently: +4.4% a yearProfit margin7%Last 12 months: 7.0%P/E at the end12xToday: 12.5x. Many steady companies trade at 12x to 25xShare count change-5% a yearBelow zero means buybacks; above zero means new shares (dilution)

Sales in 5 years$609M

Profit in 5 years$43M

Price these guesses point to$21.73+49% vs $14.58 todayAbout +8.3% a year, before dividends

What today's price needs: with a 7% margin and a 12x P/E, sales could shrink about 4.0% a year for 5 years and still match today's price.

Simple math on your guesses, not a forecast or a price target. Real results depend on many things these sliders leave out.

Price

Price chart by TradingView.

Business quality

The checklist Warren Buffett-style investors use. Annual numbers for 2025.

3/6Mixed

MissReturn on equity 15%+Earns a lot on the money owners have in the business.9.6%
PassDebt under half of equityNot relying on borrowed money.0.18x equity
MissNet margin 10%+Keeps at least 10 cents of profit from each dollar of sales.5.4%
MissProfitable every yearSteady profits, not one good year.9 of 10 years
PassFree cash flow positiveBrings in more cash than it spends to run and grow.$25.4M
PassShare count not growingNot diluting owners. Falling means buybacks.-19.6% in 3 years

Revenue: $490.0M; +3.6% vs prior year
5-year growth: +2.8%/yr; revenue, per year
Total debt: $51.0M; 0.18x equity
Current ratio: 0.32x; short-term assets / bills due

From annual reports filed with the SEC. Not in this company's SEC data, so not scored: gross margin 40%+. A checklist is a starting point for research, not a verdict.

Latest quarter

Quarter ended Jul 1, 2026

Reported Aug 6

Revenue: $129.6M; +3.0% YoY
EPS: $0.43; vs $0.24
Op. margin: 14.4%; +5.4 pts
Free cash flow: $23.3M
Share count: +2.8%; vs a year ago

Insider rating

Last 90 days

34Selling

1 insider sold $422K (not pre-planned)

50 is neutral. Buying by more insiders, top executives and bigger stakes raises it. Selling lowers it; pre-planned sales count less.

Weekly insider trend

13 weeks agoBoughtSoldThis week

Filing buzz

Last 7 days vs normal

0/ 100

This week: 0
Normal week: 0.9
vs normal: 0.0x

SEC filings of any kind. 50 means a normal week.

Institutional ownership

Accumulating+12.0%

Institutions added 12.0% to their holdings. 89 bought, 54 sold. 3 quarters of net buying in a row.

Shares held by institutions29.7M

Sep '24Jun '26

Safety check

From SEC filings

Share count growthYearly rate, last 3 years

-4.9%

Cash runwayAt last year's cash burn

Cash flow positive

Debt to equityLatest balance sheet: debt compared with what owners have

0.1x · $30.0M debt

Shares outstandingLatest reported

30M

Earnings reports

Last 12

Next reportIn 1 days (est.)Estimated from the same quarter last year

Results filedAug 6
Results filedMay 7
Results filedMar 12
Results filedOct 30, 2025
Results filedJul 31, 2025

Flags and big holders

Offerings 6 months, flags 12 months, holders 90 days

No offerings, red flags or new big holders. Clean record.

Insider trades

Open-market buys and sells, last 90 days

Bought$00 insiders

Sold$422K1 insider, 0 pre-planned

Insider	Trade	Shares	Avg price	Value	Owns after	Date
Sardar Biglari,10% owner	Sell	26K	$16.50	$422K	4M	Oct 16Filing ↗
-0.7% of their holdings Held via The Lion Fund II, L.P. Not a pre-planned sale Filed jointly with 5 others Filed 4 days after