Analysts Set ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) Target Price at $7.13

Key Points

• ARKO Corp. has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from five research firms, with an average 12-month price target of $7.1250.
• Institutional investors hold 78.29% of ARKO's shares, with significant increases in stakes reported from firms like JPMorgan Chase and Sterling Capital Management.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.03, offering an annualized yield of 2.4%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 150.00%.

Shares of ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Buy" by the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.1250.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of ARKO from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial set a $8.00 target price on shares of ARKO and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ARKO to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ARKO from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of ARKO in a report on Thursday, May 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock.

ARKO Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of ARKO traded up $0.0750 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5.0150. The company's stock had a trading volume of 150,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,040. The stock has a market cap of $565.40 million, a PE ratio of 62.70 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. ARKO has a 52 week low of $3.51 and a 52 week high of $7.84. The company's fifty day moving average price is $4.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.72.

ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. ARKO had a net margin of 0.18% and a return on equity of 5.50%. On average, analysts predict that ARKO will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ARKO Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. ARKO's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 150.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ARKO

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARKO. Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of ARKO during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of ARKO during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. PEAK6 LLC bought a new position in shares of ARKO during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of ARKO by 193.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 8,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of ARKO during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 78.29% of the company's stock.

About ARKO

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.