Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Arko from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $8.50 to $7.50 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Arko from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Capital One Financial started coverage on Arko in a report on Thursday, May 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on Arko from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.35.

Arko Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:ARKO opened at $4.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $500.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25 and a beta of 0.74. Arko has a one year low of $3.51 and a one year high of $7.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.55.

Arko (NASDAQ:ARKO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Arko had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 0.27%. Sell-side analysts predict that Arko will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Arko

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Voss Capital LP acquired a new position in Arko during the 1st quarter worth $9,547,000. Cannell Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Arko by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Cannell Capital LLC now owns 2,710,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,864,000 after purchasing an additional 971,158 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Arko by 166.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 639,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,211,000 after purchasing an additional 399,387 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Arko in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,335,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Arko during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,284,000. 78.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.