Short Interest in ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) Decreases By 20.8%

Key Points

• The short interest for ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) decreased by 20.8% in August, dropping from 3,990,000 shares to 3,160,000 shares.
• Institutional investors now own 78.29% of ARKO's stock, with notable investments from Northern Trust Corp and Deutsche Bank AG increasing their stakes significantly.
• ARKO recently announced a $0.03 per share quarterly dividend, yielding 2.4%, but has a high payout ratio of 150.00%.

ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,160,000 shares, a decrease of 20.8% from the August 15th total of 3,990,000 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 496,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.4 days. Based on an average trading volume of 496,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.4 days. Currently, 4.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in ARKO in the 1st quarter worth $45,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of ARKO during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. PEAK6 LLC bought a new stake in shares of ARKO during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of ARKO by 193.1% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of ARKO during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors own 78.29% of the company's stock.

ARKO Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARKO traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $4.71. 886,366 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 517,893. The company has a market capitalization of $531.01 million, a P/E ratio of 58.88 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.55 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 50-day simple moving average is $4.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.47.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. ARKO had a return on equity of 5.50% and a net margin of 0.18%. Equities research analysts forecast that ARKO will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

ARKO Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. ARKO's payout ratio is presently 150.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial set a $8.00 price objective on ARKO and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised ARKO to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised ARKO from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $7.13.

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.