Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,140,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the March 15th total of 3,330,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arcos Dorados

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in Arcos Dorados in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,647,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Arcos Dorados by 170.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,582,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888,357 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,801,467 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $99,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,817,276 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Arcos Dorados by 12.5% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 21,962,867 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $178,559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP bought a new position in Arcos Dorados in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,192,000. Institutional investors own 55.91% of the company’s stock.

Arcos Dorados Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ARCO opened at $10.64 on Thursday. Arcos Dorados has a 12-month low of $7.77 and a 12-month high of $13.20. The company has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.28.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter. Arcos Dorados had a return on equity of 43.72% and a net margin of 4.18%. Equities research analysts expect that Arcos Dorados will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Arcos Dorados Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. Arcos Dorados’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Arcos Dorados from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.38.

Arcos Dorados Company Profile

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc operates as a franchisee of McDonald's restaurants. It has the exclusive right to own, operate, and grant franchises of McDonald's restaurants in 20 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, the U.S.