Citigroup Begins Coverage on ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Citigroup started coverage on shares of ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $111.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on ARCB. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ArcBest from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of ArcBest in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on ArcBest from $136.00 to $131.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of ArcBest from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $180.00 to $176.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ArcBest presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $129.33.

ArcBest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCB opened at $105.95 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $105.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.46. ArcBest has a 52 week low of $86.93 and a 52 week high of $153.60.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The transportation company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.03 by ($0.05). ArcBest had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that ArcBest will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Salvatore A. Abbate acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $103.93 per share, for a total transaction of $103,930.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,650 shares in the company, valued at $379,344.50. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 120.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 245 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in ArcBest by 70.9% in the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 188 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in ArcBest in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of ArcBest during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of ArcBest during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. 99.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.