Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $272,000 Stake in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV trimmed its holdings in ArcBest Co. (NASDAQ:ARCB) by 23.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,911 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 893 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in ArcBest were worth $272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in ArcBest by 146.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 298 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in ArcBest in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in ArcBest by 471.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in ArcBest by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in ArcBest in the fourth quarter valued at about $206,000. 99.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John Matthew Beasley bought 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $74.89 per share, for a total transaction of $52,423.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 8,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,754.38. The trade was a 9.41% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ARCB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on ArcBest from $97.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on ArcBest from $120.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on ArcBest from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of ArcBest in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on ArcBest from $102.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.75.

ArcBest Stock Performance

ARCB opened at $67.79 on Friday. ArcBest Co. has a 52-week low of $55.19 and a 52-week high of $129.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 9.25, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.57.

ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). ArcBest had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 4.16%. The company had revenue of $967.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $990.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ArcBest Co. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcBest Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. ArcBest’s payout ratio is presently 6.35%.

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.