Morgan Stanley Cuts ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Price Target to $145.00

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on ArcBest from $109.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of ArcBest from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of ArcBest from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup raised their target price on ArcBest from $110.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on ArcBest from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ArcBest has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.91.

ArcBest Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ArcBest stock opened at $95.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $100.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.21. ArcBest has a 1 year low of $90.25 and a 1 year high of $153.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.22. ArcBest had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 4.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that ArcBest will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Craig E. Philip sold 3,900 shares of ArcBest stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in ArcBest by 471.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in ArcBest in the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in ArcBest by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,429 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in ArcBest by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 114,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,656,000 after buying an additional 2,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in ArcBest by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 19,489 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after buying an additional 1,219 shares during the period. 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.