ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) Trading Down 5.8% – Time to Sell?

Shares of ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) dropped 5.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $8.08 and last traded at $8.1310. Approximately 351,877 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 772,709 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARKO. Weiss Ratings cut shares of ARKO from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ARKO from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ARKO from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ARKO presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $8.00.

ARKO Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $6.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.88. The firm has a market cap of $896.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.08 and a beta of 0.98.

ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.09. ARKO had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 0.38%.The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that ARKO Corp. will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current year.

ARKO Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. ARKO’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ARKO news, General Counsel Maury Bricks sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.50, for a total value of $85,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 162,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,148.50. This trade represents a 5.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles Galagher Jeff acquired 40,000 shares of ARKO stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.07 per share, with a total value of $202,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,800. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 22.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARKO. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in ARKO during the first quarter worth about $8,220,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of ARKO by 1,635.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 574,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,627,000 after acquiring an additional 541,648 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of ARKO in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,335,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of ARKO in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,819,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ARKO by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,448,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 226,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.29% of the company’s stock.

ARKO Company Profile

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.