ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 356,620 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 26% from the previous session’s volume of 283,671 shares.The stock last traded at $120.31 and had previously closed at $104.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of ArcBest in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of ArcBest from $133.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on ArcBest from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on ArcBest from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.17.

ArcBest Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.04.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The transportation company reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.20). ArcBest had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 4.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that ArcBest Co. will post 6.89 earnings per share for the current year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. ArcBest’s payout ratio is 5.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ArcBest

In related news, Director Salvatore A. Abbate bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $103.93 per share, with a total value of $103,930.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,650 shares in the company, valued at $379,344.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of ArcBest by 2.8% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 25,397 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,619,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in shares of ArcBest by 135.1% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,130 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,948 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of ArcBest by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 20,709 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in ArcBest in the 1st quarter worth about $3,524,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in ArcBest during the first quarter worth approximately $370,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

ArcBest Company Profile

ArcBest Corporation, an integrated logistics company, engages in the provision of ground, air, and ocean transportation solutions. It operates through two segments: Asset-Based and Asset-Light. The Asset-Based segment provides less-than-truckload (LTL) services, that transports general commodities, such as food, textiles, apparel, furniture, appliances, chemicals, non-bulk petroleum products, rubber, plastics, metal and metal products, wood, glass, automotive parts, machinery, and miscellaneous manufactured products.