ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $88.75.

ARCB has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of ArcBest from $97.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of ArcBest from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John Matthew Beasley purchased 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 8,142 shares in the company, valued at $609,754.38. The trade was a 9.41 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of ArcBest by 24.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 221,507 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $24,022,000 after buying an additional 43,707 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in ArcBest by 342.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,134 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,678,000 after purchasing an additional 33,386 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in ArcBest by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 232,627 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $21,709,000 after purchasing an additional 13,152 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in ArcBest by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,429 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in ArcBest by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 3,190 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the period. 99.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ArcBest Trading Up 7.3 %

ARCB traded up $4.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.01. 533,928 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 301,424. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.70. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $68.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.01. ArcBest has a one year low of $55.19 and a one year high of $129.83.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). ArcBest had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 4.16%. The business had revenue of $967.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $990.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that ArcBest will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. ArcBest's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.35%.

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.