Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,340,000 shares, a drop of 5.9% from the September 15th total of 3,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 345,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.7 days. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arko

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arko by 72.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Arko during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Arko by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 4,030 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Arko in the second quarter worth $119,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arko during the first quarter worth $132,000. 78.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Arko Stock Performance

ARKO stock opened at $6.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.58. Arko has a one year low of $4.09 and a one year high of $8.42. The firm has a market cap of $782.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00 and a beta of 0.46.

Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Arko had a net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 13.12%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Arko will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arko Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Arko’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Arko from $5.00 to $6.25 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

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.