SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Stock Position in ArcBest Corporation $ARCB

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 51.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,267 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 3,830 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.05% of ArcBest worth $1,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCB. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 625.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 920,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $68,292,000 after purchasing an additional 793,607 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in ArcBest during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,508,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in ArcBest by 349.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 493,780 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,634,000 after buying an additional 384,024 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in ArcBest by 158.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 490,064 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,740,000 after buying an additional 300,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in ArcBest during the fourth quarter worth $20,402,000. Institutional investors own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $117.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on ArcBest from $150.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen increased their price target on ArcBest from $137.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on ArcBest from $116.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ArcBest currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.42.

ArcBest Stock Performance

Shares of ARCB opened at $139.67 on Friday. ArcBest Corporation has a 1-year low of $59.43 and a 1-year high of $176.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $137.33 and a 200 day moving average of $109.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.48, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $998.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $999.07 million. ArcBest had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that ArcBest Corporation will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. ArcBest’s payout ratio is presently 19.75%.

ArcBest Profile

ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCB) is a transportation and logistics company that offers comprehensive freight and supply chain solutions across North America. Founded in 1923 as Arkansas Best Freight System, the company has evolved into a diversified service provider with both asset-based and asset-light operations. Its core businesses include less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping through ABF Freight, expedited full-truckload services via Panther Premium Logistics, and a range of logistics and supply chain management services under its ArcBest Integrated Logistics division.

The company’s asset-based operations also encompass FleetNet America, a provider of emergency roadside assistance and maintenance services for heavy-duty vehicles.