Inspire Investing LLC Raises Holdings in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 39.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,002 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,258 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in ArcBest were worth $2,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARCB. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ArcBest during the 4th quarter worth $811,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in ArcBest in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,298,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP purchased a new stake in ArcBest in the fourth quarter valued at about $806,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in ArcBest by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 154,972 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,629,000 after buying an additional 26,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in ArcBest by 10.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 378,206 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,445,000 after buying an additional 35,968 shares during the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ArcBest Trading Up 3.4 %

ARCB stock traded up $4.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $122.42. 147,291 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 301,550. ArcBest Co. has a 1-year low of $86.93 and a 1-year high of $153.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 24.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.48.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.19). ArcBest had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 2.80%. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ArcBest Co. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ARCB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on ArcBest from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on ArcBest in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on ArcBest from $150.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America dropped their target price on ArcBest from $143.00 to $110.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered ArcBest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.69.

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.