StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Ark Restaurants (NASDAQ:ARKR)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ark Restaurants (NASDAQ:ARKR) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Separately, TheStreet upgraded Ark Restaurants from a c rating to a b- rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th.

Ark Restaurants Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:ARKR opened at $15.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $17.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.78. Ark Restaurants has a 52 week low of $15.50 and a 52 week high of $20.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 1.07.

Ark Restaurants (NASDAQ:ARKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 14th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter. Ark Restaurants had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 2.78%. The company had revenue of $51.05 million for the quarter.

Ark Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.188 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 30th. Ark Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.45%.

Institutional Trading of Ark Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Ark Restaurants by 2.4% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 30,211 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $558,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ark Restaurants by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 141,985 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Ark Restaurants by 1,694.6% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,651 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,559 shares during the period. First Manhattan Co. increased its holdings in Ark Restaurants by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 39,957 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 2,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in Ark Restaurants in the first quarter valued at $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.30% of the company’s stock.

About Ark Restaurants

Ark Restaurants Corp., through its subsidiaries, owns and operates restaurants and bars in the United States. It operates in New York City; Washington, DC; Las Vegas, Nevada; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Florida; and Alabama, as well as fast food concepts and catering operations. The company was incorporated in 1983 and is based in New York, New York.