Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 1,620 Shares of ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,584 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in ArcBest were worth $1,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in ArcBest by 9.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 458,090 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,565,000 after buying an additional 39,215 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in ArcBest by 10.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 378,206 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $38,445,000 after buying an additional 35,968 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in ArcBest by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 364,314 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,033,000 after buying an additional 7,094 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in ArcBest in the third quarter worth $29,108,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in ArcBest by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 281,693 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ARCB shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of ArcBest from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of ArcBest in a report on Monday, January 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of ArcBest from $168.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of ArcBest from $165.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $119.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ArcBest currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.54.

Insider Transactions at ArcBest

In related news, insider Erin K. Gattis sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.58, for a total value of $283,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,565,530.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.65% of the company’s stock.

ArcBest Price Performance

NASDAQ:ARCB opened at $138.08 on Friday. ArcBest Co. has a one year low of $82.18 and a one year high of $153.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $140.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.90.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.25. ArcBest had a net margin of 4.41% and a return on equity of 15.91%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that ArcBest Co. will post 10.05 EPS for the current year.

ArcBest Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. ArcBest’s payout ratio is currently 6.07%.

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.