Towle & Co. Trims Position in ArcBest Corporation $ARCB

Towle & Co. decreased its position in ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 37.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 80,114 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 47,785 shares during the period. ArcBest comprises approximately 3.0% of Towle & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Towle & Co.’s holdings in ArcBest were worth $7,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCB. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 300.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 20,177 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in ArcBest by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,017 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $989,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in ArcBest by 215.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 153,138 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,808,000 after buying an additional 104,643 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in ArcBest by 278.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 45,591 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 33,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in ArcBest by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,135 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARCB. Citigroup assumed coverage on ArcBest in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. They set a “market outperform” rating for the company. Zacks Research raised ArcBest from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on ArcBest from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on ArcBest from $117.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded ArcBest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.08.

ArcBest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCB opened at $156.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.61, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $146.06 and a 200-day moving average of $117.23. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.43 and a fifty-two week high of $176.69.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. ArcBest had a return on equity of 6.15% and a net margin of 1.38%.The business had revenue of $998.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $999.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. ArcBest’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ArcBest Corporation will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.