Short Interest in Ark Restaurants Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKR) Expands By 49.9%

Ark Restaurants Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKR) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 8,730 shares, an increase of 49.9% from the July 30th total of 5,825 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,802 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Ark Restaurants Price Performance

Ark Restaurants stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $5.38. 533 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,668. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Ark Restaurants has a twelve month low of $4.81 and a twelve month high of $9.50. The company has a market cap of $19.42 million, a P/E ratio of -6.11 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.36.

Ark Restaurants (NASDAQ:ARKR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The restaurant operator reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $40.88 million for the quarter. Ark Restaurants had a negative return on equity of 10.61% and a negative net margin of 2.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Ark Restaurants in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Ark Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ark Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARKR. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ark Restaurants by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,383 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ark Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $81,000. Finally, Nokomis Capital L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Ark Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $148,000. 31.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ark Restaurants

Ark Restaurants Corp., traded on NASDAQ under the ticker ARKR, is a Boca Raton, Florida–based restaurant operator. The company owns and manages a portfolio of casual and upscale dining venues that feature Cuban-inspired menus, full-service bars and live entertainment. Its concepts emphasize traditional Latin flavors paired with modern culinary techniques to appeal to a broad range of diners.

Ark Restaurants serves both on-premise and off-premise customers, offering dine-in seating, take-out, delivery and catering services.