ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $151.54.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ARCB shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ArcBest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of ArcBest from $119.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of ArcBest from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of ArcBest from $168.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of ArcBest from $165.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th.

ArcBest Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARCB opened at $137.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. ArcBest has a fifty-two week low of $82.18 and a fifty-two week high of $153.60. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.81.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.25. ArcBest had a net margin of 4.41% and a return on equity of 15.91%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that ArcBest will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Erin K. Gattis sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.58, for a total value of $283,160.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,565,530.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ArcBest

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ArcBest by 70.9% in the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 188 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in ArcBest by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 227 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in ArcBest by 15,450.0% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 311 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in ArcBest during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in ArcBest by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.