ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) Short Interest Up 11.9% in October

ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,600,000 shares, a growth of 11.9% from the September 30th total of 1,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 250,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.4 days. Currently, 6.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

ArcBest Price Performance

Shares of ArcBest stock traded down $1.57 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $104.37. 154,300 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 283,610. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $105.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. ArcBest has a fifty-two week low of $94.76 and a fifty-two week high of $153.60.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The transportation company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.03 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.06 billion. ArcBest had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The firm's revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that ArcBest will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ArcBest 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $379,344.50. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCB. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 120.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 245 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of ArcBest during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of ArcBest during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ArcBest during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in ArcBest during the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ARCB. TD Cowen downgraded shares of ArcBest from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $131.00 to $114.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded ArcBest from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $122.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on ArcBest from $180.00 to $176.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on ArcBest from $131.00 to $119.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ArcBest has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $126.92.

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.