ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) Trading 9.5% Higher - Should You Buy?

ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 9.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $4.58 and last traded at $4.63. 250,593 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 482,583 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ARKO. Capital One Financial began coverage on shares of ARKO in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on ARKO from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ARKO from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on ARKO from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ARKO presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $7.35.

ARKO Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.21, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $531.54 million, a PE ratio of 154.50 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.22.

ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. ARKO had a return on equity of 3.23% and a net margin of 0.10%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ARKO Corp. will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ARKO Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. ARKO's payout ratio is currently 400.00%.

Institutional Trading of ARKO

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ARKO in the first quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of ARKO in the 1st quarter worth $45,000. PEAK6 LLC purchased a new position in shares of ARKO in the 1st quarter worth $50,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in ARKO during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of ARKO by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,742 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 4,639 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.