Heartland Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in ArcBest Corporation $ARCB

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 110,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,789,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of ArcBest in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in ArcBest during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $383,000. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. acquired a new stake in ArcBest during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,977,000. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in ArcBest during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $677,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in ArcBest in the second quarter valued at approximately $503,476,000. Institutional investors own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ARCB shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of ArcBest from $145.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens raised shares of ArcBest to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of ArcBest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ArcBest currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Judy R. Mcreynolds sold 2,857 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.98, for a total transaction of $397,065.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,955,671.04. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erin K. Gattis sold 6,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $862,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 24,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,400,040. This represents a 20.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 11,963 shares of company stock worth $1,678,066 in the last quarter. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ArcBest Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of ARCB stock opened at $140.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. ArcBest Corporation has a 1 year low of $59.43 and a 1 year high of $176.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $146.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 203.39, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.57.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.12. ArcBest had a net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that ArcBest Corporation will post 6.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were issued 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, August 7th. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.57%.

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.