ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB) Holdings Lifted by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in ArcBest Corporation by 36.7% during the first quarter, holding 3.75% of the company with a total investment value of $61.35 million.
• Analyst ratings have shown mixed changes for ArcBest, with Wells Fargo reducing its target price from $90 to $80 while Morgan Stanley cut theirs from $140 to $130, indicating varying outlooks on the company's performance.
• ArcBest recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.6%, which highlights the company's ongoing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB - Free Report) by 36.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 869,267 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 233,409 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 3.75% of ArcBest worth $61,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in ArcBest by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,303 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of ArcBest by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,406 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in ArcBest by 477.6% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 387 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in ArcBest by 338.8% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 452 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.27% of the company's stock.

ArcBest Stock Performance

Shares of ArcBest stock traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $70.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 191,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 430,057. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $75.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.40. ArcBest Corporation has a one year low of $55.19 and a one year high of $123.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.69.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. ArcBest had a net margin of 3.90% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that ArcBest Corporation will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. ArcBest's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCB. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of ArcBest in a report 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 for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $81.00 price target on shares of ArcBest and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on ArcBest from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.00.

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.