Short Interest in Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) Rises By 8.7%

Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,620,000 shares, a growth of 8.7% from the August 15th total of 3,330,000 shares. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 398,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.1 days.

Arko Stock Up 5.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARKO traded up $0.37 on Wednesday, hitting $7.02. 284,788 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 374,968. Arko has a 1-year low of $4.09 and a 1-year high of $8.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a market capitalization of $812.52 million, a PE ratio of 26.88 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $6.26 and its 200 day moving average is $5.79.

Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. Arko had a return on equity of 13.12% and a net margin of 0.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Arko will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Arko Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Arko’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arko

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARKO. Creative Planning acquired a new position in Arko during the 2nd quarter worth $413,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Arko in the second quarter valued at about $495,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Arko by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 32,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,734 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Arko by 39.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 105,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 29,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Arko by 119.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 109,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 59,769 shares during the period. 78.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.