ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $160.00 to $145.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. ArcBest traded as low as $90.25 and last traded at $92.07, with a volume of 9117 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $95.61.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on ARCB. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of ArcBest from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of ArcBest from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $110.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $133.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ArcBest news, Director Craig E. Philip sold 3,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.91, for a total transaction of $428,649.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,555,407.50. This trade represents a 14.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Newcity sold 10,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total transaction of $1,259,425.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,150.60. The trade was a 67.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ArcBest

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of ArcBest by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 957,410 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $103,831,000 after purchasing an additional 17,542 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 221,507 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $24,022,000 after purchasing an additional 43,707 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 92.3% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 10,753 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 5,161 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 116,672 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,653,000 after purchasing an additional 16,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of ArcBest by 342.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,134 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,678,000 after purchasing an additional 33,386 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

ArcBest Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $101.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.64. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.01.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company earned $2.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ArcBest Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.