Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.70.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ARCO shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Arcos Dorados from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arcos Dorados from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Santander raised shares of Arcos Dorados to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Arcos Dorados in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th.

Arcos Dorados Price Performance

NYSE:ARCO opened at $8.83 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.46. Arcos Dorados has a one year low of $6.51 and a one year high of $9.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The restaurant operator reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.06. Arcos Dorados had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 10.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Arcos Dorados will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Arcos Dorados Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Arcos Dorados’s payout ratio is presently 16.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arcos Dorados

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 537,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,434,000 after purchasing an additional 9,046 shares in the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P increased its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P now owns 159,410 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 12,116 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 23,174,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $191,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703,169 shares in the last quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados during the 1st quarter worth about $907,000. Finally, Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados during the 1st quarter worth about $146,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.91% of the company’s stock.

About Arcos Dorados

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc is the largest independent McDonald’s franchisee in the world, operating under an exclusive license agreement with McDonald’s Corporation. The company develops, owns and operates quick-service restaurants, offering the full McDonald’s menu, including hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, sides, desserts and McCafé beverages. In addition to restaurant operations, Arcos Dorados manages supply chain logistics, property development, training and support services for its franchise network.

Headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay, Arcos Dorados serves 20 markets across Latin America and the Caribbean, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Uruguay.