Short Interest in Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) Expands By 51.5%

Arko Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,620,000 shares, a growth of 51.5% from the March 15th total of 3,050,000 shares. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 739,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.3 days.

Arko Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARKO traded up $0.09 on Tuesday, hitting $4.31. 155,414 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 469,355. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.10. Arko has a 52 week low of $3.51 and a 52 week high of $7.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86. The company has a market cap of $498.39 million, a PE ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 0.68.

Arko Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Arko's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Arko from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $8.50 to $7.50 in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Institutional Trading of Arko

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Arko during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Arko by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,742 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 4,639 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Arko during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arko in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arko in the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. 78.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Arko

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.