Man Group plc Takes $1.05 Million Position in ARKO Corp. $ARKO

Man Group plc bought a new stake in ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 131,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,054,000. Man Group plc owned about 0.12% of ARKO at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ARKO. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in ARKO during the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,220,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in ARKO in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,819,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of ARKO by 7.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,021,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,800,000 after purchasing an additional 206,716 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ARKO during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,154,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ARKO during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,781,000. Institutional investors own 78.29% of the company’s stock.

ARKO Price Performance

ARKO opened at $4.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.60. ARKO Corp. has a 52-week low of $3.71 and a 52-week high of $8.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $531.78 million, a PE ratio of 67.71 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $6.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.58.

ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.99 billion. ARKO had a net margin of 0.19% and a return on equity of 4.02%. On average, equities research analysts predict that ARKO Corp. will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

ARKO Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. ARKO’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 171.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ARKO shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ARKO from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Mizuho set a $22.00 price target on shares of ARKO in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ARKO from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of ARKO from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $8.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of ARKO from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ARKO presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at ARKO

In other news, General Counsel Maury Bricks sold 10,000 shares of ARKO stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.50, for a total transaction of $85,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 162,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,384,148.50. The trade was a 5.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 21.90% of the company’s stock.

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.