BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires Shares of 189,443 Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 189,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.16% of Arko at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ARKO. Cannell Capital LLC grew its holdings in Arko by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Cannell Capital LLC now owns 2,710,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,864,000 after purchasing an additional 971,158 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Arko by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,851,140 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,200,000 after purchasing an additional 202,576 shares during the last quarter. CM Management LLC grew its holdings in Arko by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. CM Management LLC now owns 1,050,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,920,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Arko by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 766,295 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,050,000 after purchasing an additional 148,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Arko by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 709,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,675,000 after purchasing an additional 58,453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on ARKO shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Arko from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Capital One Financial started coverage on Arko in a report on Thursday, May 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Arko from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $8.50 to $7.50 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on Arko from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.35.

Arko Price Performance

Shares of ARKO traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $4.50. 457,316 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 477,720. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $516.06 million, a PE ratio of 28.13 and a beta of 0.72. Arko Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $3.51 and a fifty-two week high of $7.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.71.

Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Arko had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 0.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Arko Corp. will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arko Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Arko's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 400.00%.

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.