It is hard to get excited after looking at El Pollo Loco Holdings' (NASDAQ:LOCO) recent performance, when its stock has declined 13% over the past three months. It seems that the market might have completely ignored the positive aspects of the company's fundamentals and decided to weigh-in more on the negative aspects. Long-term fundamentals are usually what drive market outcomes, so it's worth paying close attention. In this article, we decided to focus on El Pollo Loco Holdings' ROE.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders.

Check out our latest analysis for El Pollo Loco Holdings

How Is ROE Calculated?

The formula for return on equity is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for El Pollo Loco Holdings is:

9.9% = US$26m ÷ US$261m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024).

The 'return' is the yearly profit. That means that for every $1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated $0.10 in profit.

What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth?

So far, we've learned that ROE is a measure of a company's profitability. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features.

El Pollo Loco Holdings' Earnings Growth And 9.9% ROE

At first glance, El Pollo Loco Holdings' ROE doesn't look very promising. Next, when compared to the average industry ROE of 15%, the company's ROE leaves us feeling even less enthusiastic. As a result, El Pollo Loco Holdings' flat net income growth over the past five years doesn't come as a surprise given its lower ROE.

We then compared El Pollo Loco Holdings' net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 32% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning.

Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. By doing so, they will have an idea if the stock is headed into clear blue waters or if swampy waters await. What is LOCO worth today? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether LOCO is currently mispriced by the market.

Is El Pollo Loco Holdings Making Efficient Use Of Its Profits?

El Pollo Loco Holdings doesn't pay any regular dividends, which means that it is retaining all of its earnings. This makes us question why the company is retaining so much of its profits and still generating almost no growth? So there might be other factors at play here which could potentially be hampering growth. For example, the business has faced some headwinds.

Conclusion

Overall, we have mixed feelings about El Pollo Loco Holdings. While the company does have a high rate of reinvestment, the low ROE means that all that reinvestment is not reaping any benefit to its investors, and moreover, its having a negative impact on the earnings growth. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.