Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Purchases 10,390 Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 257,060 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,390 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned approximately 1.10% of ArcBest worth $23,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARCB. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in ArcBest by 146.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 298 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of ArcBest in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in ArcBest by 471.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 549 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in ArcBest by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,148 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in ArcBest during the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.27% of the company's stock.

ArcBest Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCB traded down $2.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.89. The company had a trading volume of 89,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 298,906. ArcBest Co. has a one year low of $57.80 and a one year high of $152.35. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $78.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.26, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.62.

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ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.22. ArcBest had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 4.16%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ArcBest Co. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. ArcBest's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.55%.

Insider Transactions at ArcBest

In related news, CFO John Matthew Beasley bought 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.89 per share, for a total transaction of $52,423.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,754.38. The trade was a 9.41 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ARCB. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on ArcBest from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on ArcBest from $100.00 to $73.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of ArcBest from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of ArcBest from $96.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ArcBest has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.75.

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.