ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) Share Price Breaks Below 50-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB)’s share price crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $136.18 and traded as low as $128.79. ArcBest shares last traded at $131.14, with a volume of 227,345 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ARCB. Citigroup reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of ArcBest in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens raised ArcBest to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on ArcBest in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on ArcBest from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of ArcBest in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ArcBest presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $153.77.

ArcBest Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 183.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. ArcBest had a net margin of 0.39% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that ArcBest Corporation will post 6.98 earnings per share for the current year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio is 69.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ArcBest

In other ArcBest news, insider Erin K. Gattis sold 6,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $862,820.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 24,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,400,040. This trade represents a 20.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Judy R. Mcreynolds sold 2,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.98, for a total transaction of $397,065.86. Following the sale, the director directly owned 50,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,955,671.04. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 12,818 shares of company stock worth $1,793,568 in the last 90 days. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ArcBest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCB. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in ArcBest during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $503,476,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of ArcBest by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,397,287 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $137,429,000 after acquiring an additional 47,848 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ArcBest by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 535,746 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $76,901,000 after acquiring an additional 131,400 shares in the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ArcBest in the 4th quarter valued at $20,402,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of ArcBest during the second quarter worth about $27,281,000. 99.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ArcBest

ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCB) is a logistics company that provides freight transportation and supply chain services to businesses in North America and international markets. Headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the company serves manufacturers, distributors, retailers and other commercial customers through a combination of asset-based transportation and asset-light logistics solutions.

ArcBest’s asset-based operations are conducted primarily through ABF Freight, a less-than-truckload carrier that transports palletized freight and offers regional, interregional and long-distance services.