ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Cut to “Peer Perform” at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research downgraded shares of ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on ARCB. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ArcBest from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on ArcBest from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Bank of America reduced their target price on ArcBest from $102.00 to $99.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of ArcBest in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $105.55 and its 200-day moving average is $114.76. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.46. ArcBest has a 1-year low of $86.93 and a 1-year high of $153.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The transportation company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by ($0.05). ArcBest had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 2.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that ArcBest will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at ArcBest

In other news, Director Salvatore A. Abbate purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $103.93 per share, for a total transaction of $103,930.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,344.50. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ArcBest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $62,509,000 after purchasing an additional 150,467 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted 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 worth $20,558,000 after buying an additional 117,774 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of ArcBest in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,812,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ArcBest by 1,455.0% in the second quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 63,399 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,789,000 after buying an additional 59,322 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of ArcBest during the first quarter worth about $7,838,000. 99.27% of the stock is currently 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.