Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Makes New $771,000 Investment in Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. $ARCO

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 105,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $771,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCO. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Arcos Dorados by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 20,128,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $135,867,000 after purchasing an additional 5,255,199 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Arcos Dorados by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,427,294 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $77,134,000 after purchasing an additional 4,893,812 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its holdings in Arcos Dorados by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 6,342,621 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,808,125 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in Arcos Dorados by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 1,486,822 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,036,000 after purchasing an additional 758,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Arcos Dorados by 1,097.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 646,470 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,364,000 after purchasing an additional 592,484 shares during the last quarter. 55.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arcos Dorados Stock Performance

Shares of ARCO stock opened at $8.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.46 and a 200-day moving average of $7.88. Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $6.51 and a one year high of $9.75.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Arcos Dorados had a net margin of 4.53% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Arcos Dorados Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Arcos Dorados’s dividend payout ratio is 23.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Arcos Dorados from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Arcos Dorados in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Santander raised Arcos Dorados to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Arcos Dorados in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.70.

About Arcos Dorados

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.