Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) Short Interest Down 5.7% in March

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,140,000 shares, a decrease of 5.7% from the March 15th total of 3,330,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,080,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Arcos Dorados from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Arcos Dorados currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.38.

Arcos Dorados Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARCO traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.63. 1,303,334 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,106,863. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.26. Arcos Dorados has a one year low of $7.77 and a one year high of $13.20. The company's 50 day moving average is $11.42 and its 200 day moving average is $11.28.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The restaurant operator reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter. Arcos Dorados had a return on equity of 43.72% and a net margin of 4.18%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arcos Dorados will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Arcos Dorados Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd will be given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Arcos Dorados's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.24%.

Institutional Trading of Arcos Dorados

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCO. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arcos Dorados by 64.3% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 28,831 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 11,288 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Arcos Dorados in the first quarter valued at about $209,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Arcos Dorados in the first quarter valued at about $2,946,000. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Arcos Dorados by 925.1% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 320,597 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,606,000 after purchasing an additional 289,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Arcos Dorados by 12.5% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 21,962,867 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $178,559,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435,111 shares during the last quarter. 55.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.