Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO) Shares Gap Up to $4.28

Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.28, but opened at $4.67. Arko shares last traded at $5.13, with a volume of 378,217 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ARKO shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Arko from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Arko from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th.

Arko Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $584.49 million, a P/E ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.54. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.30 and a 200-day moving average of $6.95.

Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. Arko had a net margin of 0.37% and a return on equity of 12.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arko Corp. will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Morris Willner sold 2,792,631 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.76, for a total value of $18,878,185.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,683,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,983,704.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 21.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arko

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Arko by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,039,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,574,000 after purchasing an additional 28,883 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Arko by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 145,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,040,000 after buying an additional 27,800 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in Arko by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 80,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 60,000 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Arko by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 76,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 33,480 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Arko during the 3rd quarter valued at about $434,000. 78.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arko Company Profile

Arko Corp. operates convenience stores in the United States. It operates through Retail, Wholesale, Fleet Fueling, and GPMP segments. The Retail segment engages in the sale of fuel and merchandise to retail consumers. Its Wholesale segment supplies fuel to third-party dealers and consignment agents. The Fleet Fueling segment supplies fuel to proprietary and third-party cardlock, and issuance of proprietary fuel cards.