The Goldman Sachs Group Upgrades ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) to "Buy"

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $101.00 price target on the transportation company's stock, up from their prior price target of $84.00.

ARCB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on ArcBest from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised ArcBest from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on 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 upped their price objective on ArcBest from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on ArcBest from $100.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.67.

ArcBest Price Performance

NASDAQ ARCB traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $63.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 193,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 308,129. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $63.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. ArcBest has a 1 year low of $55.19 and a 1 year high of $129.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.73, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.70.

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

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. ArcBest's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.35%.

Insider Transactions at ArcBest

In other news, CFO John Matthew Beasley acquired 700 shares of ArcBest stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $74.89 per share, with a total value of $52,423.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $609,754.38. This trade represents a 9.41% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of ArcBest

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of ArcBest by 342.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,134 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,678,000 after purchasing an additional 33,386 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in ArcBest by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 232,627 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $21,709,000 after purchasing an additional 13,152 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in ArcBest by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,429 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in ArcBest by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 3,190 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in ArcBest during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,826,000. Institutional investors own 99.27% 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.