Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.50.

ARCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Arcos Dorados from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Arcos Dorados from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arcos Dorados from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Arcos Dorados from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $10.50 in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Arcos Dorados in a report on Wednesday, April 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arcos Dorados

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCO. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 1.7% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,741,166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $88,615,000 after acquiring an additional 178,602 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Arcos Dorados by 7.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 23,174,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $191,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703,169 shares in the last quarter. Moerus Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Arcos Dorados by 19.9% in the first quarter. Moerus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,263,589 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,175,000 after purchasing an additional 706,683 shares in the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Arcos Dorados in the 4th quarter worth about $771,000. Finally, Dumac Inc. acquired a new position in Arcos Dorados in the 4th quarter worth about $447,000. 55.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arcos Dorados Stock Performance

Shares of ARCO opened at $8.29 on Tuesday. Arcos Dorados has a one year low of $6.54 and a one year high of $9.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.39. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Thursday, May 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Arcos Dorados will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Arcos Dorados Company Profile

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.