Aviva PLC Cuts Stake in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Aviva PLC reduced its stake in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB – Get Rating) by 36.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,899 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 7,469 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in ArcBest were worth $903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 13.0% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,737 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 4.5% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 24,501 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 55.3% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,871 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 10.9% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 21,438 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,726,000 after purchasing an additional 2,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new position in shares of ArcBest during the first quarter valued at $1,461,000. 88.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ArcBest Stock Performance

Shares of ARCB opened at $86.21 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.18. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.29 and a beta of 1.56. ArcBest Co. has a 52 week low of $65.88 and a 52 week high of $104.87.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.55). The company had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. ArcBest had a return on equity of 27.05% and a net margin of 5.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.08 EPS. On average, analysts expect that ArcBest Co. will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 10th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 9th. ArcBest’s payout ratio is 4.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ARCB shares. Cowen upped their price target on ArcBest from $124.00 to $127.00 in a report on Monday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on ArcBest from $138.00 to $136.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on ArcBest in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America downgraded ArcBest from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $101.00 to $91.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on ArcBest from $114.00 to $113.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.25.

ArcBest Company Profile

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ArcBest Corp. is a logistics company which provides end-to-end supply chain services with a focus on innovation. It operates through the following business segments: Asset-Based, ArcBest and FleetNet. The Asset-Based segment includes national, inter-regional, and regional transportation of general commodities through standard, expedited, and guaranteed less-than-truckload services.