ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.09 EPS

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The transportation company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.09, Zacks reports. ArcBest had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 3.90%.The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis.

ArcBest Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCB traded down $4.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $66.09. 78,417 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 355,882. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.67. ArcBest has a 12-month low of $55.19 and a 12-month high of $122.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $72.24 and a 200 day moving average of $71.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio is 7.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCB. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in ArcBest by 300.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 20,177 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings 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 increased its holdings 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 increased its holdings in ArcBest by 278.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 45,591 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after buying an additional 33,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in ArcBest by 3.4% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,135 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ARCB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on ArcBest from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on ArcBest from $80.00 to $74.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised ArcBest from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $79.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on ArcBest from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ArcBest presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

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.