ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) Shares Up 9.5% - Time to Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

ARKO Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $4.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $528.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 153.67 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.55.

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

ARKO Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. ARKO's payout ratio is presently 400.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ARKO

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in ARKO during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of ARKO by 90.9% in the fourth 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. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in ARKO in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in ARKO during the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in ARKO during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. 78.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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