Brokerages Set ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) Target Price at $133.18

Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $133.18.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ARCB shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ArcBest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on ArcBest from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut ArcBest from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $122.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on ArcBest from $180.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of ArcBest in a report on Wednesday, September 4th.

ArcBest Stock Performance

Shares of ARCB opened at $110.93 on Tuesday. ArcBest has a 1 year low of $86.93 and a 1 year high of $153.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.24.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The transportation company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by ($0.05). ArcBest had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 2.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that ArcBest will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ArcBest news, Director Salvatore A. Abbate acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $379,344.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ArcBest

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCB. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in ArcBest by 34.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 583,762 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,509,000 after acquiring an additional 150,467 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of ArcBest by 4.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 525,471 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $56,267,000 after purchasing an additional 20,115 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 158.7% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 191,987 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $20,558,000 after purchasing an additional 117,774 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in ArcBest by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 165,175 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $23,537,000 after buying an additional 14,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in ArcBest by 20.5% in the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

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.