ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $124.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ARCB shares. TD Cowen lowered shares of ArcBest from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $131.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com raised ArcBest from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on ArcBest from $110.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America cut their price target on ArcBest from $102.00 to $99.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th.

ArcBest Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of ArcBest stock traded up $1.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $115.28. The stock had a trading volume of 134,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,626. ArcBest has a 12 month low of $94.76 and a 12 month high of $153.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $107.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.23, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.47.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The transportation company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.20). ArcBest had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 4.54%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ArcBest will post 6.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. ArcBest's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.93%.

Insider Transactions at ArcBest

In other news, Director Craig E. Philip sold 3,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.91, for a total transaction of $428,649.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,555,407.50. The trade was a 14.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Newcity sold 10,443 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total value of $1,259,425.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,150.60. The trade was a 67.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.65% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in ArcBest by 5.4% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,123 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in ArcBest during the third quarter worth about $485,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in ArcBest by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 551,821 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $59,856,000 after acquiring an additional 3,475 shares in the last quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in ArcBest by 51.1% in the third quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 34,000 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,687,000 after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in ArcBest by 342.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.