Granite Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Granite Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,388 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 41,986 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned 0.49% of ArcBest worth $10,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in ArcBest by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 163,168 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,227,000 after acquiring an additional 48,184 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 136,375 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,727,000 after purchasing an additional 30,906 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in ArcBest by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,568 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in ArcBest by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,509,000 after buying an additional 5,835 shares during the period. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its position in ArcBest by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 257,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $23,989,000 after buying an additional 10,390 shares in the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ArcBest Trading Down 1.7 %

ARCB opened at $62.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.04. ArcBest Co. has a 12-month low of $57.80 and a 12-month high of $151.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.45.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.22. ArcBest had a net margin of 4.16% and a return on equity of 11.79%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that ArcBest Co. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.55%.

Insider Activity at ArcBest

In other ArcBest news, CFO John Matthew Beasley purchased 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $74.89 per share, with a total value of $52,423.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 8,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,754.38. This represents a 9.41 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on ArcBest from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on ArcBest from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on ArcBest from $108.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.75.

About ArcBest

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.