Analysts Set ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) Price Target at $7.13

Shares of ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $7.1250.

ARKO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ARKO from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Zacks Research cut ARKO from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of ARKO in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

ARKO Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of ARKO stock opened at $5.03 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $560.49 million, a P/E ratio of 45.73 and a beta of 0.86. ARKO has a 52-week low of $3.51 and a 52-week high of $7.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.61.

ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2 billion. ARKO had a return on equity of 6.95% and a net margin of 0.24%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ARKO will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

ARKO Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. ARKO’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARKO. Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its stake in ARKO by 20.4% during the third quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 7,309,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,404,000 after buying an additional 1,239,512 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $17,343,000 after acquiring an additional 22,532 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of ARKO by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,798,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,790,000 after acquiring an additional 63,779 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ARKO by 37.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 762,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,013,000 after purchasing an additional 206,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of ARKO by 22.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 733,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,103,000 after purchasing an additional 134,502 shares in the last quarter. 78.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.