LOCO (El Pollo Loco Holdings) Risk Assessment

Author: Vera Yuan Vera Yuan
Vera Yuan
Vera Yuan
Director of Data and Quant Analytics at GuruFocus
Focused on building reliable datasets, financial models, and research tools for value-minded investors. Committed to turning complex data into practical guidance for value-investing and long-term wealth.
Reviewed by: Charlie Tian Charlie Tian
Charlie Tian
Charlie Tian
Founder & CEO of GuruFocus
Dr. Charlie Tian is the founder and CEO of GuruFocus.com, a leading global investment research platform established in 2004. With a Ph.D. in physics, Dr. Tian transitioned from science to finance, applying a data-driven, disciplined approach to value investing.

LOCO El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc LOCO
70 GF Score
Price $16.13
GF Value $11.66
Valuation Significantly Overvalued
! 7 Warning Signs
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What is El Pollo Loco Holdings Risk Assessment?

Risk Assessment represents the investment risk of a stock derived from our exclusive method. It suggests how risky the investment opportunity is based on the valuation and the fundamental performance of the stock. It is derived from following key aspects:

1. GuruFocus internally developed valuations of the stock, such as GF valuation.
2. Quality Rank, a business quality indicator developed by GuruFocus.
3. Fundamental performance: Piotroski F-Score, Altman Z-Score, Beneish M-Score, etc.
4. Growth opportunities: 5-year revenue growth rate, 5-Year EPS without NRI Growth Rate, etc.

Value investors are always willing to find undervalued stocks. However, not all the undervalued stocks are good deals, we should also be careful of how risky the investment opportunity is. We believe that if the company's financial strength and profitability are strong, and the stock price is within a reasonable range of the GF valuation, or stock has a high return with its price being undervalued, then it might be a good investment opportunity with low risk.

Based on those aspects listed above, GuruFocus believes the risk assessment of El Pollo Loco Holdings is: Moderate Risk: Sensitive, better choose undervalued stock.

El Pollo Loco Holdings  (NAS:LOCO) Risk Assessment Explanation

Based on the four aspects listed above, GuruFocus provides the following 7 evaluations:

All-in-One Screener Examples (1)
Low Risk: Strong fundamentals, worth long-term holding
Moderate Risk: Sensitive, better choose undervalued stock
High Risk: High uncertainty with risk-return tradeoff
High Risk: Good fundamentals, beware of shrinking business
High Risk: Sensitive to economic or industry trends
High Risk: High uncertainty
No Data: Cannot be evaluated

(1) These are some simple examples. You can access our Risk Assessment filter under All-in-One Screener’s Fundamental tab and set your own criteria.

El Pollo Loco Holdings Risk Assessment Related Terms

LOCO vs DIN, NATH, CNNE: Risk Assessment Comparison

For the Restaurants subindustry, El Pollo Loco Holdings's Risk Assessment, along with its competitors' market caps and Risk Assessment data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.

El Pollo Loco Holdings Risk Assessment vs Restaurants Industry

For the Restaurants industry and Consumer Cyclical sector, El Pollo Loco Holdings's Risk Assessment distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where El Pollo Loco Holdings's Risk Assessment falls into.


LOCO
70GF Score
El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc LOCO
Risk Assessment is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
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Is El Pollo Loco Holdings (LOCO) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, El Pollo Loco Holdings stock appears to be overvalued. The current stock price of $16.13 is trading 38.3% above its estimated GF Value™ of $11.66. GuruFocus considers El Pollo Loco Holdings to be Significantly Overvalued.

Key valuation signals for LOCO:

  • Risk Assessment:
  • GF Value™: $11.66 vs. price of $16.13 (38.3% above fair value)
  • GF Score™: 70/100 with 7 warning signs

No single metric tells the full story. See the LOCO stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.

El Pollo Loco Holdings Business Description

Other Exchanges EP6:Germany
Address 575 Anton Boulevard, Suite 1100, Costa Mesa, CA, USA, 92626
El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc operates and franchises hundreds of fast-casual chicken restaurants in the United States. It specializes in fire-grilling citrus-marinated chicken and operates in the limited service restaurant market segment. Its offerings include Mexican-inspired menu items, including burritos, tostadas, bowls, salads, and bone-in chicken meals in various portion sizes. It also offers citrus-marinated fire-grilled chicken, along with a range of salsas and dressings that allow customers to customize their meals. The company operates in one operating segment. The majority of the company's revenue is derived from company-operated restaurant revenue.
70GF Score

Get the complete analysis for LOCO

Risk Assessment is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

$16.13
Price
$11.66
GF Value