ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Key Points

• ArcBest Corporation shares dropped significantly after the company reported quarterly earnings of $1.36 per share, missing the analysts' expectation of $1.41 by $0.05.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12, with a payout ratio of 6.35% and an annualized yield of 0.66%.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for ArcBest, with Goldman Sachs upgrading the stock's rating to a "buy" and setting a new price objective of $101.00.

ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $82.00, but opened at $76.15. ArcBest shares last traded at $72.96, with a volume of 180,906 shares traded.

The transportation company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.12). ArcBest had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 3.90%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.98 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. ArcBest's payout ratio is currently 6.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of ArcBest from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ArcBest from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of ArcBest from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of ArcBest from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Eight equities research 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 an average price target of $90.00.

Institutional Trading of ArcBest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $258,601,000 after purchasing an additional 20,665 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,664,431 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $188,056,000 after buying an additional 92,514 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 869,267 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $61,353,000 after buying an additional 233,409 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 689,895 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $48,693,000 after buying an additional 70,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 436,921 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $30,838,000 after buying an additional 10,766 shares during the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ArcBest Stock Down 3.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.73.

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.