Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 116,304 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 2,115 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.50% of ArcBest worth $8,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ArcBest by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,557 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in ArcBest by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 46,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,339,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in ArcBest by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 85,185 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,949,000 after purchasing an additional 7,602 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in ArcBest during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in ArcBest by 81.2% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,480 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 8,727 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

ArcBest Stock Down 2.7%

NASDAQ:ARCB opened at $79.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.71. ArcBest Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.19 and a twelve month high of $129.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $70.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.61.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $967.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $990.03 million. ArcBest had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 10.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that ArcBest Corporation will post 7 EPS for the current year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. ArcBest’s payout ratio is 6.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of ArcBest from $60.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $67.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of ArcBest from $64.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of ArcBest from $75.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ArcBest presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.17.

ArcBest Company Profile

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.