There was a significant drop in the number of short positions held in ArcBest Company during December (NASDAQ: ARCB). As of December 30, there was a total short interest of 1,300,000 shares, a decrease of 5.1% from the total short interest of 1,370,000 shares as of the previous day. 5.9 days is the time currently represented by the short-interest ratio, calculated using an average daily trading volume of 221,500 shares. This ratio determines the length of time represented by the short-interest ratio. 5.5% of the company’s shares are currently being sold on the short market at this time.
The News previously reported that on November 10, an insider named Daniel E. Loe sold 7,555 shares of ArcBest stock. This transaction took place. The shares were sold at a volume that resulted in a total sale volume of 613,012.70 dollars, with an average price of $81.14 per share. This company insider is now the proud owner of 26,615 shares, estimated to be worth approximately 2,159,541.10 dollars. Additional information regarding the transaction can be found in a document sent to the SEC and is now available online. 1.68 company insiders own a percent of the total shares currently outstanding.
Over the past few months, ARCB has been successful in attracting the attention of a variety of different brokerage firms. Morgan Stanley downgraded ArcBest from “overweight” to “neutral” in a research note published on January 11 and decreased its price objective from $139 to $138. In a research report released on November 2, Credit Suisse Group raised its price objective for ArcBest from $87.00 to $92.00. The firm also recommended that investors “outperform” the stock by giving it a rating of “outperform,” which indicates that investors should buy the stock. October 12, a Wednesday, was when StockNews.com began covering ArcBest. They suggested to the investors that the best action would be to “buy” the shares.
Last but not least, Citigroup decreased its price objective on ArcBest from $94.00 to $90.00 while maintaining its “buy” rating on the stock in a research report published on Friday, October 7. Only two of the equity research experts polled recommended that investors keep their current holdings in the company. At the same time, eight analysts rated the company as a buy and recommended that investors keep their current holdings. According to Bloomberg.com, the stock has been rated “Moderate Buy” due to the consensus of stock market analysts, who also predict that the stock will reach an average price of $113.56.
As a result of recent happenings, several large investors have altered the proportion of the company’s stock they currently hold in their portfolios. During the third quarter, BlackRock Inc. increased the amount of ArcBest stock owned by 1.5%, bringing its total ownership percentage to 100%. BlackRock Inc. now has a total of 3,993,690 shares of the transportation company’s stock, which are currently valued at $290,461,000 after the company made an additional purchase of 60,749 shares during the most recent quarter. During the first three months of the year, there was a 2.1% increase in the value of the investment that Vanguard Group Inc. had made in ArcBest. The stock issued by the transportation company is now held in total by Vanguard Group Inc. at a total of 2,714,834 shares, following the acquisition of an additional 55,946 shares during the most recent fiscal quarter. The value of these shares on the market as of right now is $218,544,000. The amount of ArcBest stock that State Street Corporation owned as of the end of the first quarter was 6.3% higher than it was at the beginning of the period. State Street Corp. now has 1,067,783 shares of the transportation company after purchasing an additional 63,476 shares during the most recent quarter. These shares bring the total value of State Street Corp.’s investment in the company to $85,957,000. During the third quarter, LSV Asset Management completed a 5.6% increase in ArcBest stock held in its portfolio. Following the purchase of 37,951 additional shares during the most recent fiscal quarter, LSV Asset Management now owns a total of 713,249 shares of the transportation company’s stock, which has a value of $51,875,000. This brings the total number of shares owned by LSV Asset Management to 713,249; last but not least, during the second quarter, JPMorgan Chase & Co. made a 40.8% increase to the ownership stake it already possessed in ArcBest. Following the acquisition of 131,550 additional shares during the most recent fiscal quarter, JPMorgan Chase & Co. now holds a total of 453,651 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at $31,923,000. These shares were acquired to bring the total number of shares held by the company up to 453,651. Currently, a total of 88.59% of the company’s shares are owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
When trading started on Monday, an individual share of ArcBest was valued at $79.29. The stock currently trades at a price that results in a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.27, a price-to-earnings-to-growth ratio of 0.49, and a beta value of 1.56. Its market value is currently $1.94 billion. The simple moving average for the stock over the past 50 days is 76.94, and the simple moving average for the past 200 days is $78.58. During the past year, the price of ArcBest dropped to a record low of $65.15 and rose to a record high of $98.95. All the financial ratios, including the debt-to-equity ratio, current, and quick ratio, all equal 1.32. The ratio of debt to equity is currently at 0.17.
The most recent quarterly earnings report for ArcBest, which is publicly traded and can be found on the NASDAQ under the symbol ARCB, was released on November 1. The transportation company reported earnings per share for the quarter of $3.80, which is $0.05 higher than the average estimate of $3.75. The actual revenue the company brought in for the quarter was $1.35 billion, which is higher than the forecasted revenue of $1.34 billion made for the company during the quarter. The return on equity for ArcBest was 35.11%, and the net margin for the company was 6.20%. Compared to the same quarter from the previous year, the rise in revenue for the quarter was 33.0% higher than the prior year’s level. The company generated earnings of $2.59 per share during the same period in the prior year’s operations. ArcBest is expected to generate profits of 13.81 cents per share during the current fiscal year, according to predictions made by industry experts.
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