Moerus Capital Management LLC Acquires 706,683 Shares of Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. $ARCO

Moerus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) by 19.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,263,589 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 706,683 shares during the quarter. Arcos Dorados comprises 13.0% of Moerus Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Moerus Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Arcos Dorados were worth $35,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 21,471,672 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $157,602,000 after buying an additional 1,343,195 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Arcos Dorados by 1.7% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,741,166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $88,615,000 after buying an additional 178,602 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda grew its position in Arcos Dorados by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 7,551,676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $55,429,000 after buying an additional 1,209,055 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Arcos Dorados by 3.1% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,508,707 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,684,000 after buying an additional 105,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 132.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 3,483,732 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,987,271 shares during the period. 55.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ARCO shares. Santander upgraded Arcos Dorados to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arcos Dorados in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Arcos Dorados from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Arcos Dorados from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Arcos Dorados from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $10.50.

Arcos Dorados Stock Performance

Arcos Dorados stock opened at $8.28 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.51 and a 12-month high of $9.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.46 and a beta of 0.48.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.06. Arcos Dorados had a net margin of 4.86% and a return on equity of 10.47%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.