Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stake in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,988 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,902 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in ArcBest were worth $1,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 4.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ArcBest by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in ArcBest by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 851 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in ArcBest by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 15,266 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,656,000 after purchasing an additional 2,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 3,680 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. 99.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on ArcBest from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of ArcBest in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of ArcBest from $131.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of ArcBest from $130.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $133.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.50.

ArcBest Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARCB opened at $112.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.39. ArcBest Co. has a 1 year low of $94.76 and a 1 year high of $153.60. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.47.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The transportation company reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.84 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. ArcBest had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 4.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that ArcBest Co. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. ArcBest’s payout ratio is currently 5.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael E. Newcity sold 10,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total transaction of $1,259,425.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,150.60. This trade represents a 67.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Craig E. Philip sold 3,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.91, for a total transaction of $428,649.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,555,407.50. This represents a 14.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.18% 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.