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

Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,750,000 shares, a decrease of 5.8% from the November 30th total of 2,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 286,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.6 days. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arko

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Arko by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 32,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Arko by 27.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 4,030 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Arko in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PDT Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Arko by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 75,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 6,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arko by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 116,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 9,377 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.29% of the company’s stock.

Arko Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARKO opened at $6.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $773.34 million, a P/E ratio of 41.75 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $6.89 and a 200 day moving average of $6.56. Arko has a 1 year low of $4.09 and a 1 year high of $8.42.

Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Arko had a net margin of 0.27% and a return on equity of 8.88%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Arko will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arko Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Arko’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.00%.

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.