Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Stock Price

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) had its price target hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $109.00 to $125.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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 ArcBest from $110.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of ArcBest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of ArcBest from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.00.

ArcBest Stock Performance

Shares of ArcBest stock opened at $100.23 on Thursday. ArcBest has a one year low of $91.01 and a one year high of $153.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The transportation company reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. ArcBest had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 14.27%. The company’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ArcBest will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.93%.

Insider Transactions at ArcBest

In related news, Director Craig E. Philip sold 3,900 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now owns 23,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,555,407.50. The trade was a 14.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Newcity sold 10,443 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,150.60. This trade represents a 67.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ArcBest

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in ArcBest by 24.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 221,507 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $24,022,000 after acquiring an additional 43,707 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 342.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 43,134 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,678,000 after purchasing an additional 33,386 shares in the last quarter. Partners Group Holding AG grew its position in shares of ArcBest by 51.5% in the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 87,842 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,526,000 after purchasing an additional 29,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ArcBest during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,409,000. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ArcBest Company Profile

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.