ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $108.33.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on ArcBest from $109.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on ArcBest from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on ArcBest from $126.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of ArcBest in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on ArcBest from $100.00 to $73.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th.

ArcBest Trading Up 3.4 %

NASDAQ ARCB opened at $75.84 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.73. ArcBest has a 12 month low of $70.96 and a 12 month high of $153.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.22. ArcBest had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 4.16%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. On average, analysts expect that ArcBest will post 7 EPS for the current year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John Matthew Beasley acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $74.89 per share, with a total value of $52,423.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 8,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,754.38. This trade represents a 9.41 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ArcBest

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in ArcBest by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,771,123 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $258,601,000 after purchasing an additional 20,665 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in ArcBest by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,571,917 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $240,011,000 after purchasing an additional 220,325 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 957,410 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $103,831,000 after acquiring an additional 17,542 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 635,858 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,338,000 after acquiring an additional 16,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 618,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $57,758,000 after acquiring an additional 86,867 shares in the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About ArcBest

ArcBest Corporation, an integrated logistics company, engages in the provision of ground, air, and ocean transportation solutions. It operates through two segments: Asset-Based and Asset-Light. The Asset-Based segment provides less-than-truckload (LTL) services, that transports general commodities, such as food, textiles, apparel, furniture, appliances, chemicals, non-bulk petroleum products, rubber, plastics, metal and metal products, wood, glass, automotive parts, machinery, and miscellaneous manufactured products.