ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $7.74 and last traded at $7.66, with a volume of 40772 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $7.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARKO shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ARKO from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ARKO from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of ARKO from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.00.

ARKO Stock Up 0.3%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $6.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $871.16 million, a P/E ratio of 40.82 and a beta of 0.94.

ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.09. ARKO had a net margin of 0.38% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that ARKO Corp. will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ARKO Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. ARKO’s payout ratio is 63.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Charles Galagher Jeff purchased 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.07 per share, with a total value of $202,800.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,800. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 22.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ARKO

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in ARKO during the 1st quarter worth about $8,220,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in ARKO by 1,635.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 574,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,627,000 after buying an additional 541,648 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in ARKO during the 1st quarter worth about $1,335,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in ARKO during the 1st quarter worth about $1,819,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in ARKO by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,448,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,577,000 after buying an additional 226,591 shares in the last quarter. 78.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ARKO

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.