ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on ARCB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of ArcBest from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of ArcBest in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on ArcBest from $150.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America lowered their price target on ArcBest from $102.00 to $99.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of ArcBest from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $122.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.18.

ArcBest Stock Performance

Shares of ArcBest stock opened at $101.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.46. ArcBest has a one year low of $86.93 and a one year high of $153.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $108.42 and its 200-day moving average is $116.22.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The transportation company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. ArcBest had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 2.96%. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. Equities analysts predict that ArcBest will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at ArcBest

In other news, Director Salvatore A. Abbate acquired 1,000 shares of ArcBest stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $103.93 per share, for a total transaction of $103,930.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,344.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ArcBest

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARCB. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of ArcBest by 70.9% in the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 188 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of ArcBest by 120.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 245 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ArcBest during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ArcBest during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ArcBest by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.