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

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,240,000 shares, a decrease of 23.5% from the February 13th total of 1,620,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Arcos Dorados Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARCO traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $8.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 353,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,281,782. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $7.82 and a 200 day moving average of $8.27. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Arcos Dorados had a net margin of 3.25% and a return on equity of 29.74%. On average, equities analysts expect that Arcos Dorados will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arcos Dorados Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Arcos Dorados’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Institutional Trading of Arcos Dorados

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 7,210 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 22,258 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arcos Dorados by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 72,478 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arcos Dorados by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 35,689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 3,427 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.91% of the company’s stock.

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.