Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Decreases Holdings in ARKO Corp. $ARKO

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL trimmed its position in shares of ARKO Corp. (NASDAQ:ARKO) by 40.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,729 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106,235 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in ARKO were worth $702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARKO. Phoenix Financial Ltd. grew its holdings in ARKO by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 7,309,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,512 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in ARKO by 1,635.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 574,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,627,000 after purchasing an additional 541,648 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in ARKO during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,335,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in ARKO by 37.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 762,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,013,000 after acquiring an additional 206,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lee Financial Co bought a new position in ARKO in the 3rd quarter worth about $891,000. 78.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on ARKO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ARKO from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ARKO from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ARKO from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $8.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Charles Galagher Jeff purchased 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.07 per share, with a total value of $202,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,800. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 22.50% of the company’s stock.

ARKO Price Performance

Shares of ARKO opened at $7.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $856.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.16 and a beta of 0.94. ARKO Corp. has a twelve month low of $3.71 and a twelve month high of $7.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $6.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.51.

ARKO (NASDAQ:ARKO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. ARKO had a net margin of 0.38% and a return on equity of 9.10%. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that ARKO Corp. will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ARKO Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. ARKO’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.16%.

ARKO 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.