OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Buys Shares of 40,130 ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 40,130 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $3,745,000. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.17% of ArcBest as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in ArcBest by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 6,856 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in ArcBest by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,463 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 8,128 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 146.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 298 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,148 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John Matthew Beasley purchased 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $74.89 per share, for a total transaction of $52,423.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,754.38. This trade represents a 9.41% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

ArcBest Stock Performance

ARCB traded down $0.86 on Friday, hitting $66.93. 315,581 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 307,464. ArcBest Co. has a 52 week low of $55.19 and a 52 week high of $129.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $65.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.18.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $967.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $990.03 million. ArcBest had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 4.16%. The firm's revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that ArcBest Co. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCB has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of ArcBest from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of ArcBest from $102.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on ArcBest from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on ArcBest from $97.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on ArcBest from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ArcBest has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $88.25.

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.