Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO) Shares Gap Up to $6.65

Shares of Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.65, but opened at $6.81. Arko shares last traded at $6.94, with a volume of 47,235 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Arko Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $806.74 million, a PE ratio of 27.04 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.79.

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

Arko Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Arko’s dividend payout ratio is 46.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arko

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Arko by 72.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arko in the first quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Arko by 27.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 4,030 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Arko during the 2nd quarter worth about $119,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arko in the first quarter valued at about $132,000. 78.29% of the stock is 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.