Analysts Set ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) Price Target at $118.91

Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $108.33.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on ArcBest from $105.00 to $96.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on ArcBest from $100.00 to $73.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on ArcBest from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on ArcBest from $109.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on ArcBest from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John Matthew Beasley purchased 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $74.89 per share, for a total transaction of $52,423.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,754.38. This trade represents a 9.41 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ArcBest

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCB. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in ArcBest during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 17.9% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

ArcBest Stock Performance

ARCB stock opened at $75.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35, 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $89.61 and a 200-day moving average of $99.73. ArcBest has a 12-month low of $70.96 and a 12-month high of $153.61.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ArcBest will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.