Wall Street Zen Upgrades Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO) to Hold

Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Arko from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on shares of Arko in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Arko from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $8.50 to $7.50 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Arko from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $7.35.

Arko Stock Performance

ARKO traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $4.36. 348,790 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 478,482. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $4.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86. Arko has a 1-year low of $3.51 and a 1-year high of $7.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $500.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25 and a beta of 0.74.

Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. Arko had a net margin of 0.27% and a return on equity of 8.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arko will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arko

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Arko in the first quarter worth $294,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Arko during the 1st quarter worth $1,335,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Arko by 37.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 762,864 shares of the company's stock worth $3,013,000 after acquiring an additional 206,061 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Arko by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,838 shares of the company's stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Arko by 63.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 117,544 shares of the company's stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 45,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.