ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $151.54.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ARCB shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on ArcBest from $153.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded ArcBest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on ArcBest from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on ArcBest in a research report on Monday, January 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on ArcBest from $165.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th.

ArcBest Trading Down 7.4 %

NASDAQ ARCB opened at $127.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.49. ArcBest has a 52 week low of $82.18 and a 52 week high of $153.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $140.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.08. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.25. ArcBest had a return on equity of 15.91% and a net margin of 4.41%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. ArcBest’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that ArcBest will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.07%.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $141.58, for a total transaction of $283,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,565,530.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ArcBest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Horrell Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,371 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,185,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 868.0% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,120 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 165,175 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $23,537,000 after buying an additional 14,463 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 8,216 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 70.9% in the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 188 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is currently 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.