Short Interest in ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) Grows By 86.8%

ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,029,862 shares, a growth of 86.8% from the March 15th total of 1,621,721 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,245,417 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of ARKO in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Charles Galagher Jeff purchased 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.07 per share, for a total transaction of $202,800.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,800. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 22.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ARKO

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Phoenix Financial Ltd. grew its stake in ARKO by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 7,309,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239,512 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of ARKO by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,795,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,343,000 after purchasing an additional 22,532 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of ARKO by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,815,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,781,000 after purchasing an additional 16,257 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ARKO by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,903,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,644,000 after purchasing an additional 7,735 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ARKO by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,448,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 226,591 shares during the period. 78.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ARKO Price Performance

Shares of ARKO stock opened at $5.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.02, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $617.66 million, a P/E ratio of 39.79 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.05. ARKO has a one year low of $3.71 and a one year high of $6.70.

ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. ARKO had a net margin of 0.30% and a return on equity of 8.58%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ARKO will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

ARKO Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. ARKO’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

ARKO Company Profile

ARKO Corp (NASDAQ: ARKO) is a downstream energy and convenience retail company based in Matthews, North Carolina. The company’s core operations encompass fuel supply, distribution and retailing through a network of terminals, independent dealer locations and company-operated convenience stores. ARKO’s fuel offerings include branded and unbranded gasoline and diesel, as well as lubricants and other petroleum products marketed under various regional and private labels.

In its retail segment, ARKO operates a portfolio of convenience stores under the Kangaroo Express banner, serving on-site customers with fuel, grab-and-go food items, beverages and everyday household essentials.