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Are Investors Undervaluing El Pollo Loco (LOCO) Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

El Pollo Loco (LOCO - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. LOCO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.8. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.10. Over the past year, LOCO's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.97 and as low as 9.83, with a median of 12.16.

Finally, we should also recognize that LOCO has a P/CF ratio of 7.12. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. LOCO's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 20.92. LOCO's P/CF has been as high as 10.11 and as low as 6.32, with a median of 7.83, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in El Pollo Loco's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that LOCO is an impressive value stock right now.


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