ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Sets New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $73.00. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the stock. ArcBest traded as low as $71.26 and last traded at $72.09, with a volume of 156059 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.33.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ARCB. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of ArcBest in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of ArcBest from $105.00 to $96.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of ArcBest from $103.00 to $83.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of ArcBest from $109.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.75.

Insider Transactions at ArcBest

In other news, CFO John Matthew Beasley purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 8,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,754.38. This represents a 9.41 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ArcBest

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ArcBest by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,771,123 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $258,601,000 after buying an additional 20,665 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of ArcBest by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,571,917 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $240,011,000 after buying an additional 220,325 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of ArcBest by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 957,410 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $103,831,000 after acquiring an additional 17,542 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ArcBest by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 635,858 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $59,338,000 after acquiring an additional 16,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of ArcBest by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 618,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $57,758,000 after acquiring an additional 86,867 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

ArcBest Trading Up 0.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.54. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $90.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.27.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business posted $2.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that ArcBest Co. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. ArcBest’s payout ratio is 6.55%.

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.