ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $97.00.

ARCB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on ArcBest from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on ArcBest from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $96.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Saturday, January 31st.

ArcBest Stock Performance

ARCB opened at $99.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 37.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.47 and a 200-day moving average of $77.64. ArcBest has a 52-week low of $55.19 and a 52-week high of $112.92.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $972.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $963.74 million. ArcBest had a return on equity of 6.51% and a net margin of 1.50%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ArcBest will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. ArcBest’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ArcBest

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ArcBest by 300.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 20,177 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,017 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 215.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 153,138 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,808,000 after purchasing an additional 104,643 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of ArcBest by 278.2% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 45,591 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 33,537 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ArcBest by 3.4% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,135 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

About ArcBest

ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCB) is a transportation and logistics company that offers comprehensive freight and supply chain solutions across North America. Founded in 1923 as Arkansas Best Freight System, the company has evolved into a diversified service provider with both asset-based and asset-light operations. Its core businesses include less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping through ABF Freight, expedited full-truckload services via Panther Premium Logistics, and a range of logistics and supply chain management services under its ArcBest Integrated Logistics division.

The company’s asset-based operations also encompass FleetNet America, a provider of emergency roadside assistance and maintenance services for heavy-duty vehicles.