West Tower Group LLC Purchases New Position in Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO)

West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 78,304 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $570,000. Arcos Dorados comprises approximately 1.3% of West Tower Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCO. Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 3,167,857 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $23,062,000 after buying an additional 815,198 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,014 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,857,000 after buying an additional 129,544 shares during the period. Emeth Value Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados in the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,190,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472,490 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,720,000 after buying an additional 353,700 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Arcos Dorados in the third quarter worth approximately $12,101,000. 55.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arcos Dorados Trading Down 3.5 %

ARCO opened at $8.13 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $7.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.26. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.09. Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.02 and a 52 week high of $11.49. 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 (NYSE:ARCO) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Arcos Dorados had a return on equity of 29.74% and a net margin of 3.25%. Analysts forecast that Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Arcos Dorados Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Arcos Dorados from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday.

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.