Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) Downgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to "Neutral"

JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO - Free Report) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $8.80 price target on the restaurant operator's stock, down from their prior price target of $10.50.

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Arcos Dorados from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th.

Arcos Dorados Stock Performance

Shares of ARCO stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $7.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,959,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,402,626. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $7.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.67. The firm has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.63. Arcos Dorados has a one year low of $6.66 and a one year high of $10.55.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The restaurant operator reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Arcos Dorados had a net margin of 3.00% and a return on equity of 26.70%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arcos Dorados will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Arcos Dorados Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 25th were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. Arcos Dorados's dividend payout ratio is 36.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,463,466 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $98,015,000 after buying an additional 3,851,704 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Arcos Dorados during the first quarter worth about $79,583,000. Moerus Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arcos Dorados by 67.3% during the 1st quarter. Moerus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,552,013 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,338 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Arcos Dorados by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,402,735 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $27,426,000 after buying an additional 121,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados in the first quarter valued at about $26,746,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.91% of the company's stock.

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.