El Pollo Loco (LOCO) Competitors

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) and El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ:LOCO) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Does the media prefer WING or LOCO?

In the previous week, Wingstop had 20 more articles in the media than El Pollo Loco. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Wingstop and 4 mentions for El Pollo Loco. Wingstop's average media sentiment score of 0.99 beat El Pollo Loco's score of 0.91 indicating that Wingstop is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Wingstop	11 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
El Pollo Loco	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings & valuation, WING or LOCO?

Wingstop has higher revenue and earnings than El Pollo Loco. El Pollo Loco is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wingstop, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wingstop	$669.74M	13.86	$108.72M	$6.00	55.39
El Pollo Loco	$479.69M	0.66	$25.68M	$0.84	12.56

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in WING or LOCO?

81.3% of El Pollo Loco shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Wingstop shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of El Pollo Loco shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer WING or LOCO?

Wingstop presently has a consensus target price of $379.52, suggesting a potential upside of 14.19%. El Pollo Loco has a consensus target price of $18.00, suggesting a potential upside of 70.62%. Given El Pollo Loco's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe El Pollo Loco is more favorable than Wingstop.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wingstop	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	20 Buy rating(s)	4 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.97
El Pollo Loco	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is WING or LOCO more profitable?

Wingstop has a net margin of 25.61% compared to El Pollo Loco's net margin of 5.15%. El Pollo Loco's return on equity of 9.83% beat Wingstop's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wingstop	25.61%	-17.07%	16.53%
El Pollo Loco	5.15%	9.83%	4.38%

Which has more risk and volatility, WING or LOCO?

Wingstop has a beta of 1.84, meaning that its stock price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, El Pollo Loco has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Wingstop beats El Pollo Loco on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.