ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Reaches New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)’s share price hit 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.33.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on ArcBest from $103.00 to $83.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of ArcBest from $105.00 to $96.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of ArcBest from $109.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of ArcBest from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on ArcBest from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARCB. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in ArcBest by 146.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 298 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in ArcBest in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in ArcBest by 471.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in ArcBest by 60.6% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 546 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in ArcBest by 17.9% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

ArcBest Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $91.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.22. ArcBest had a net margin of 4.16% and a return on equity of 11.79%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that ArcBest Co. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. 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.