Brokerages Set ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB) Target Price at $123.42

Shares of ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $133.9167.

ARCB has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $117.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $122.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of ArcBest from $102.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of ArcBest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th.

Institutional Trading of ArcBest

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARCB. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in ArcBest by 625.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in ArcBest during the third quarter worth $39,508,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in ArcBest by 349.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in ArcBest by 158.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 490,064 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,740,000 after purchasing an additional 300,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in ArcBest during the fourth quarter worth $20,402,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

ArcBest Stock Up 7.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCB opened at $166.22 on Thursday. 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 has a 52-week low of $59.43 and a 52-week high of $167.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $120.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.55.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last issued 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. ArcBest had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.15%. The company had revenue of $998.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $999.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. ArcBest’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that ArcBest will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.75%.

ArcBest Company 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.