Federated Hermes Inc. Buys New Shares in ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. took a new position in ArcBest Corporation by acquiring 130,371 shares valued at approximately $9.2 million, owning about 0.56% of the company post-purchase.
• ArcBest recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share, reflecting a yield of 0.7%, with the dividend expected to be paid on August 22nd.
• Analysts have varied price targets for ArcBest, with Citigroup raising its target from $67 to $89 and Goldman Sachs increasing its target from $84 to $101, with an average price target now at $90.

Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 130,371 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $9,202,000. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.56% of ArcBest at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARCB. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in ArcBest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $439,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 0.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 326,006 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $30,423,000 after purchasing an additional 104,499 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of ArcBest in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,826,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,406 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARCB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded ArcBest from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $84.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded ArcBest from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on ArcBest from $67.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on ArcBest from $75.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded ArcBest from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ArcBest currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.00.

ArcBest Trading Up 4.5%

NASDAQ:ARCB traded up $3.19 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $73.31. 337,064 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 453,896. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $74.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.80. ArcBest Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.19 and a twelve month high of $123.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.69.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $1.36 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 firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that ArcBest Corporation will post 7 EPS for the current year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

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

ArcBest Company 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.