JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) Stock Price

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) had its price objective cut by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $8.80 to $8.70 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.72% from the stock’s current price.

ARCO has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Arcos Dorados from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Arcos Dorados from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Arcos Dorados from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Sell” and an average target price of $8.70.

Arcos Dorados Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARCO opened at $7.58 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Arcos Dorados has a 1 year low of $6.51 and a 1 year high of $8.88.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The restaurant operator reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.54. Arcos Dorados had a return on equity of 24.54% and a net margin of 2.89%.The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Arcos Dorados will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCO. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Arcos Dorados by 13.1% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 241,677 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after buying an additional 27,979 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Arcos Dorados by 6.8% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 207,859 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 13,152 shares during the last quarter. General American Investors Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Arcos Dorados during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,076,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Arcos Dorados by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 234,596 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 50,557 shares during the period. Finally, Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Arcos Dorados by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 27,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 5,242 shares during the last quarter. 55.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.