Empowered Funds LLC Makes New Investment in ArcBest Corporation $ARCB

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in ArcBest Corporation, purchasing 76,116 shares valued at approximately $5.37 million, representing 0.33% of the company.
• ArcBest reported a quarterly earnings miss, with an EPS of $1.36 against an estimated $1.48, and a 5.1% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 76,116 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $5,372,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.33% of ArcBest at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of ArcBest by 7.1% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,303 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in ArcBest by 4.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,555 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in ArcBest by 5.1% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 8,540 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ArcBest Trading Up 0.1%

ARCB traded up $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.31. The company had a trading volume of 103,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 362,513. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.66. ArcBest Corporation has a 52 week low of $55.19 and a 52 week high of $123.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were 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 was Friday, August 8th. ArcBest's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ARCB. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of ArcBest from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of ArcBest from $93.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of ArcBest from $75.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ArcBest to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of ArcBest from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.17.

ArcBest Profile

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.