Dodge & Cox Buys New Stake in Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO)

Dodge & Cox bought a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 106,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $772,000. Dodge & Cox owned 0.05% of Arcos Dorados as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Arcos Dorados in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,051,000. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arcos Dorados during the 3rd quarter worth $12,101,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 184,039 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 77,958 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Arcos Dorados by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 534,990 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,895,000 after purchasing an additional 58,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Arcos Dorados in the 4th quarter worth $380,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.91% of the company's stock.

Arcos Dorados Price Performance

NYSE:ARCO traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $7.35. 219,330 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,379,280. The company has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 0.69. Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.66 and a 1 year high of $11.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 3.25% and a return on equity of 29.74%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arcos Dorados Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. Arcos Dorados's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Arcos Dorados from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th.

Arcos Dorados 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.