Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) Short Interest Down 23.5% in February

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,240,000 shares, a decrease of 23.5% from the February 13th total of 1,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 7,210 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,540 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Arcos Dorados during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arcos Dorados in the 4th quarter worth about $90,000. 55.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arcos Dorados Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARCO traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.13. 1,164,197 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,282,267. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Arcos Dorados has a one year low of $7.02 and a one year high of $11.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $7.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.26.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. Arcos Dorados had a net margin of 3.25% and a return on equity of 29.74%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Arcos Dorados will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arcos Dorados Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. Arcos Dorados’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

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.