Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on ARCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Arcos Dorados from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $10.50 in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Arcos Dorados from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Bank of America cut Arcos Dorados from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Arcos Dorados from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $9.75.

Arcos Dorados Price Performance

Arcos Dorados stock opened at $7.05 on Friday. Arcos Dorados has a 52-week low of $6.67 and a 52-week high of $9.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The restaurant operator reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.07. Arcos Dorados had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 12.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Arcos Dorados will post 0.80 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arcos Dorados

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARCO. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Arcos Dorados by 7.9% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 23,174,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $191,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703,169 shares during the period. Moerus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Moerus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,263,589 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,175,000 after buying an additional 706,683 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 132.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 3,483,732 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,741,000 after buying an additional 1,987,271 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 3,416,163 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $24,426,000 after buying an additional 98,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,574,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.91% of the company’s stock.

Arcos Dorados Company Profile

Arcos Dorados Holdings operates McDonald’s restaurants in Latin America and the Caribbean under a master franchise agreement. It is the largest independent McDonald’s franchisee in the world by restaurant count, with operations across 20 countries and territories in the region.

The company’s restaurants serve McDonald’s menu items, including burgers, fries, chicken, breakfast foods, desserts and beverages. Its services also include McCafé offerings, delivery and digital ordering through channels such as mobile apps and kiosks.

Arcos Dorados was formed in 2007 when McDonald’s separated its Latin American and Caribbean operations into a regional franchise business.