ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Citizens Jmp

Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a market outperform rating and a $180.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on ARCB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on ArcBest from $117.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $117.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “market outperform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of ArcBest from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of ArcBest from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.85.

ArcBest Stock Down 2.7%

ARCB stock opened at $147.47 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $141.09 and a 200 day moving average of $113.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 60.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.57. ArcBest has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $176.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $998.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $999.07 million. ArcBest had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 1.38%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that ArcBest will post 6.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. ArcBest’s payout ratio is 19.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCB. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in ArcBest by 100.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 87,256 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,734,000 after acquiring an additional 43,803 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc purchased a new position in ArcBest during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,240,000. Unison Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ArcBest in the fourth quarter worth approximately $780,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 384,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of ArcBest by 19,008.1% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 122,292 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,073,000 after purchasing an additional 121,652 shares in the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About ArcBest

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.