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

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,240,000 shares, a decline of 23.5% from the February 13th total of 1,620,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days.

Arcos Dorados Price Performance

NYSE ARCO traded down $0.11 on Friday, reaching $8.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,110,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,282,052. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.09. Arcos Dorados has a twelve month low of $7.02 and a twelve month high of $11.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm's 50 day moving average is $7.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.26.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. Arcos Dorados had a return on equity of 29.74% and a net margin of 3.25%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arcos Dorados will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Remove Ads

Arcos Dorados Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. Arcos Dorados's dividend payout ratio is 33.33%.

Institutional Trading of Arcos Dorados

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARCO. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in Arcos Dorados by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 7,210 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,540 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados during the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados during the 4th quarter valued at about $90,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Arcos Dorados by 273.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 12,102 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 8,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Arcos Dorados by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,272 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 1,830 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised Arcos Dorados from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday.

About Arcos Dorados

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.