ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $61.72, but opened at $68.42. ArcBest shares last traded at $70.50, with a volume of 47,174 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ARCB shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of ArcBest from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of ArcBest from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of ArcBest from $102.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of ArcBest from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of ArcBest from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $88.25.

ArcBest Trading Down 1.3%

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.70.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $990.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. ArcBest's quarterly revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ArcBest Co. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. ArcBest's payout ratio is currently 6.35%.

Insider Activity

In other ArcBest news, CFO John Matthew Beasley purchased 700 shares of ArcBest stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $74.89 per share, with a total value of $52,423.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $609,754.38. This trade represents a 9.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ArcBest

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of ArcBest by 342.5% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ArcBest by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 232,627 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $21,709,000 after purchasing an additional 13,152 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ArcBest by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,429 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of ArcBest by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 3,190 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of ArcBest during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,826,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.27% of the company's stock.

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.