Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have assigned a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $200.00.

ODFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Old Dominion Freight Line from $193.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Old Dominion Freight Line from $201.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $228.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $214.00 price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research report on Thursday, September 5th.

Old Dominion Freight Line Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ODFL opened at $215.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $201.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.23. Old Dominion Freight Line has a 52 week low of $165.49 and a 52 week high of $233.26. The stock has a market cap of $46.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69, a PEG ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 0.99.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.01. Old Dominion Freight Line had a net margin of 21.03% and a return on equity of 29.40%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Old Dominion Freight Line will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Old Dominion Freight Line’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Leo H. Suggs sold 3,000 shares of Old Dominion Freight Line stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.44, for a total transaction of $676,320.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,383 shares in the company, valued at $1,664,423.52. This trade represents a 28.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David S. Congdon sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.17, for a total transaction of $1,951,700.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,391,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,602,670.57. The trade was a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,975 shares of company stock valued at $10,062,478. Company insiders own 9.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Old Dominion Freight Line

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 2.0% in the third quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 2,611 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,124 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Old Dominion Freight Line by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,888 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Old Dominion Freight Line by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,513 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 1,164 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.82% of the company’s stock.

About Old Dominion Freight Line

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc operates as a less-than-truckload motor carrier in the United States and North America. The company offers regional, inter-regional, and national less-than-truckload services, as well as expedited transportation. It also provides various value-added services, including container drayage, truckload brokerage, and supply chain consulting.