ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) Shares Purchased by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 52.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,227 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,525 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ArcBest were worth $1,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in ArcBest by 70.9% in the 1st quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 188 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ArcBest in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in ArcBest in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in ArcBest during the second quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in ArcBest in the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ArcBest Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARCB opened at $105.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $105.55 and a 200-day moving average of $114.76. ArcBest Co. has a 52 week low of $86.93 and a 52 week high of $153.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.19.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The transportation company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by ($0.05). ArcBest had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ArcBest Co. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. ArcBest’s payout ratio is presently 9.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of ArcBest from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on ArcBest from $180.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of ArcBest in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com upgraded ArcBest from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $102.00 to $99.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ArcBest has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.33.

Insider Transactions at ArcBest

In other news, Director Salvatore A. Abbate bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $103.93 per share, for a total transaction of $103,930.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,344.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.65% of the company’s stock.

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.