ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.12

Key Points

• ArcBest Corporation has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, payable on August 22nd, which reflects an annualized dividend of $0.48 and a yield of 0.57%.
• The company's dividend payout ratio stands at 6.6%, suggesting it is well supported by earnings, with future earnings projections allowing for an expected payout ratio of 4.8%.
• ArcBest reported earnings of $0.51 per share for the last quarter, falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.52, and experienced a 6.7% decrease in quarterly revenue year-over-year.
• Several analysts have recently raised their price targets for ArcBest stock, with most maintaining a "hold" rating, while the consensus price target now stands at $94.00.

ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 25th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of 0.12 per share by the transportation company on Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th.

ArcBest has a dividend payout ratio of 6.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect ArcBest to earn $9.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 4.8%.

ArcBest Price Performance

Shares of ARCB traded down $2.99 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $82.48. The stock had a trading volume of 110,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,982. The company's 50-day moving average is $73.24 and its 200 day moving average is $75.72. ArcBest has a 12-month low of $55.19 and a 12-month high of $129.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.71.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $967.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $990.03 million. ArcBest had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 10.05%. The company's revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that ArcBest will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of ArcBest

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARCB. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in ArcBest by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,017 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $989,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of ArcBest by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,135 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in ArcBest by 300.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,896 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 20,177 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in ArcBest by 278.2% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 45,591 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 33,537 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in ArcBest by 215.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 153,138 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $10,808,000 after purchasing an additional 104,643 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCB. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on ArcBest from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised ArcBest from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on ArcBest from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on ArcBest from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of ArcBest in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.00.

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.