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

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,584 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.07% of ArcBest worth $1,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARCB. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ArcBest during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,108,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in ArcBest by 175.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 195,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,849,000 after purchasing an additional 124,354 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in ArcBest during the third quarter worth approximately $10,561,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new stake in ArcBest during the third quarter worth approximately $5,835,000. Finally, Ardsley Advisory Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of ArcBest in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,075,000. Institutional investors own 99.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Erin K. Gattis sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.58, for a total value of $283,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,565,530.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

ArcBest Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:ARCB opened at $138.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $140.31 and its 200 day moving average is $124.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. ArcBest Co. has a 12 month low of $82.18 and a 12 month high of $153.60.

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

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. ArcBest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of ArcBest from $153.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $119.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of ArcBest from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of ArcBest from $165.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.54.

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.