Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,800 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $1,418,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in ArcBest during the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 385.8% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 26,717 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,716,000 after acquiring an additional 21,217 shares in the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new stake in shares of ArcBest in the 4th quarter worth $806,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 378,206 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $38,445,000 after acquiring an additional 35,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 55,199 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $5,611,000 after acquiring an additional 13,165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.27% of the company's stock.

ArcBest Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCB traded up $1.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $138.03. 302,200 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 326,025. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.49. ArcBest Co. has a 12-month low of $82.18 and a 12-month high of $153.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $140.48 and a 200-day moving average of $123.92.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.25. ArcBest had a net margin of 4.41% and a return on equity of 15.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ArcBest Co. will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. ArcBest's payout ratio is 6.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens upped their target price on shares of ArcBest from $165.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ArcBest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of ArcBest from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of ArcBest in a report on Monday, January 29th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $148.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of ArcBest from $168.00 to $164.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $151.54.

Insider Transactions at ArcBest

In other news, insider Erin K. Gattis sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.58, for a total value of $283,160.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,247 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,565,530.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.65% 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.