Arko Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:ARKO)

Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors acquired 2,060 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,283% compared to the typical daily volume of 149 put options.

Arko Price Performance

Shares of ARKO stock traded down $0.27 on Wednesday, reaching $4.85. 521,395 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 305,907. Arko has a 1 year low of $4.80 and a 1 year high of $9.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $6.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.36. The company has a market cap of $563.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92 and a beta of 0.28.

Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. Arko had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 0.37%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.09 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Arko will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arko Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. Arko's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Arko from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Morris Willner sold 2,792,631 shares of Arko stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.76, for a total transaction of $18,878,185.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,683,980 shares in the company, valued at $78,983,704.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 32.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arko

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Arko by 149.7% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,004 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,801 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Arko by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 4,172 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Arko in the third quarter valued at about $72,000. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Arko during the second quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arko during the fourth quarter worth about $90,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.29% of the company's stock.

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.