ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $123.17.

ARCB has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on ArcBest from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on ArcBest from $130.00 to $117.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of ArcBest from $131.00 to $119.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of ArcBest from $133.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

ArcBest Price Performance

Shares of ARCB traded up $16.71 on Wednesday, reaching $120.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,293,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 289,549. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $104.79 and a 200 day moving average of $109.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.47. ArcBest has a twelve month low of $94.76 and a twelve month high of $153.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The transportation company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. ArcBest had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 14.27%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that ArcBest will post 6.89 EPS for the current year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. ArcBest's dividend payout ratio is presently 5.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Salvatore A. Abbate bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $103.93 per share, for a total transaction of $103,930.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $379,344.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of ArcBest

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of ArcBest by 120.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 245 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in ArcBest during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in ArcBest in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ArcBest during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of ArcBest during the second quarter worth $46,000. 99.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.