Is LOCO a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how LOCO compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.'s AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to LOCO based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes LOCO a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

LOCO - El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Hold DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $14.25 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

C+ 57.3 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for stable earnings power businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 20%

D+ 42.9

5yr Avg ROIC 5.2% 36/100
Operating Margin Trend +0.14 pp/yr 59/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

B 70.0

5yr Avg ROE 8.8% 54/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -5.1% 100/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

C- 46.1

5yr Revenue CAGR 1.9% 36/100
5yr EPS CAGR 3.0% 40/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 4/5 80/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

B 72.4

5yr FCF Margin 5.4% 51/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 0.98x 98/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

C- 48.2

Net Debt / EBITDA 3.99x 30/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 9.50x 83/100
Altman Z-Score 1.93 39/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

B 71.7

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.31 56/100
Piotroski F-Score 8 89/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 1/5 80/100

2 of 2 gurus held; 1 new buy; 1 added.

Holders: 2 +1
Avg Δ position: +36.9%
New buys: 1
Full exits: 0

Wood new
Cooperman increased +37%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (20%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (15%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (20%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (15%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.