ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) Trading 9.3% Higher – Here’s Why

ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) shares were up 9.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $4.81 and last traded at $4.92. Approximately 430,857 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 821,651 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARKO. Wall Street Zen cut ARKO from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ARKO from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial lowered ARKO from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $8.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Monday. Mizuho set a $22.00 price target on ARKO in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of ARKO from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.50.

ARKO Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $554.33 million, a P/E ratio of 70.33 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.71.

ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. ARKO had a net margin of 0.19% and a return on equity of 4.44%. On average, equities analysts forecast that ARKO Corp. will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ARKO Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. ARKO’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

Insider Activity at ARKO

In other news, General Counsel Maury Bricks sold 10,000 shares of ARKO stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.50, for a total transaction of $85,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 162,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,148.50. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 21.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ARKO

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of ARKO by 201.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 4,468 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of ARKO during the second quarter worth $58,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ARKO during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in ARKO in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in ARKO by 193.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 8,115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.29% of the company’s stock.

About ARKO

ARKO Corp (NASDAQ: ARKO) is a downstream energy and convenience retail company based in Matthews, North Carolina. The company’s core operations encompass fuel supply, distribution and retailing through a network of terminals, independent dealer locations and company-operated convenience stores. ARKO’s fuel offerings include branded and unbranded gasoline and diesel, as well as lubricants and other petroleum products marketed under various regional and private labels.

In its retail segment, ARKO operates a portfolio of convenience stores under the Kangaroo Express banner, serving on-site customers with fuel, grab-and-go food items, beverages and everyday household essentials.