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

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,790,000 shares, a growth of 25.2% from the March 31st total of 1,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARCO. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Arcos Dorados by 95.9% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 76,274 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 37,341 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados during the third quarter valued at approximately $12,101,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Arcos Dorados in the fourth quarter valued at $2,051,000. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Arcos Dorados by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 504,189 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,670,000 after purchasing an additional 10,699 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in Arcos Dorados by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,014 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $12,857,000 after buying an additional 129,544 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.91% of the company's stock.

Arcos Dorados Stock Performance

ARCO stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $7.97. 3,044,897 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,400,127. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $7.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.65. Arcos Dorados has a 52 week low of $6.66 and a 52 week high of $11.35.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. Arcos Dorados had a return on equity of 29.74% and a net margin of 3.25%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Arcos Dorados will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arcos Dorados Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. Arcos Dorados's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.