Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) Sees Large Volume Increase After Dividend Announcement

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) saw strong trading volume on Friday after the company announced a dividend. 1,985,391 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 54% from the previous session’s volume of 1,285,258 shares.The stock last traded at $8.27 and had previously closed at $7.92.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. Arcos Dorados’s payout ratio is 34.29%.

Arcos Dorados Trading Up 4.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.28.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Arcos Dorados by 53.2% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 289,153 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 100,461 shares during the period. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados during the 4th quarter valued at $350,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 900,088 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,553,000 after buying an additional 31,010 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados in the 4th quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Arcos Dorados by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 519,496 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,782,000 after acquiring an additional 54,225 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.91% of the company’s stock.

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.