Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires 1,703,169 Shares of Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. $ARCO

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) by 7.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,174,841 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,703,169 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Arcos Dorados worth $191,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Arcos Dorados by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,741,166 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $88,615,000 after buying an additional 178,602 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $55,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209,055 shares during the last quarter. Moerus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Arcos Dorados by 19.9% during the first quarter. Moerus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,263,589 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,175,000 after acquiring an additional 706,683 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 105,972 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 132.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 3,483,732 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,987,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ARCO. Wall Street Zen upgraded Arcos Dorados from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Arcos Dorados from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $10.50 in a report on Friday, July 17th. Santander raised Arcos Dorados to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Arcos Dorados from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Arcos Dorados in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

Arcos Dorados Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:ARCO opened at $8.22 on Monday. Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.51 and a 1-year high of $9.75. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $8.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arcos Dorados Profile

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.