Stephens Inc. AR Increases Stake in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,958 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in ArcBest were worth $863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCB. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ArcBest by 34.7% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 583,762 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,509,000 after purchasing an additional 150,467 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in ArcBest by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 525,471 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $56,267,000 after buying an additional 20,115 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in ArcBest by 158.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 191,987 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $20,558,000 after acquiring an additional 117,774 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of ArcBest by 0.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 150,742 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 86.3% in the second quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 80,050 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,572,000 after acquiring an additional 37,073 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded ArcBest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on ArcBest from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of ArcBest from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $130.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of ArcBest from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $131.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ArcBest has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ArcBest news, Director Salvatore A. Abbate purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $103.93 per share, with a total value of $103,930.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,344.50. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ArcBest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCB opened at $104.10 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $104.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.47. ArcBest Co. has a one year low of $94.76 and a one year high of $153.60.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The transportation company reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.20). ArcBest had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 14.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ArcBest Co. will post 6.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. ArcBest’s payout ratio is 5.93%.

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.