Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) Short Interest Update

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) saw a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,140,000 shares, a decline 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 shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCO. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in Arcos Dorados during the first quarter worth about $49,647,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Arcos Dorados by 170.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,582,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888,357 shares during the period. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,801,467 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $99,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,817,276 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Arcos Dorados by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 21,962,867 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $178,559,000 after buying an additional 2,435,111 shares during the period. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new stake in Arcos Dorados during the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,192,000. 55.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arcos Dorados Trading Down 2.0 %

ARCO stock traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.68. 179,261 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,090,871. Arcos Dorados has a one year low of $7.77 and a one year high of $13.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $11.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.27.

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

Arcos Dorados Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Arcos Dorados’s payout ratio is 28.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.