UBS Group Has Lowered Expectations for Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) Stock Price

Key Points

• UBS Group cut Old Dominion Freight Line’s price target from $228 to $194 and maintained a “Neutral” rating, though the new target implies roughly 14% upside from the stock’s $170.21 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but broadly cautious: the consensus rating is “Hold” with a $218 target, while several firms recently lowered targets despite retaining Buy, Overweight or Outperform ratings.
• Old Dominion exceeded third-quarter expectations, reporting $1.65 EPS and $1.59 billion in revenue, but its fourth-quarter outlook points to potentially slower growth and a higher projected operating ratio, raising margin concerns.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at UBS Group from $228.00 to $194.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the transportation company's stock. UBS Group's price objective suggests a potential upside of 13.98% from the company's current price.

ODFL has been the subject of several other research reports. Truist Financial set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Old Dominion Freight Line from $250.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $233.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $218.00.

Old Dominion Freight Line Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ODFL traded down $3.12 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $170.21. 2,316,356 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,002,354. Old Dominion Freight Line has a twelve month low of $126.01 and a twelve month high of $252.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.47.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The transportation company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.04. Old Dominion Freight Line had a net margin of 19.44% and a return on equity of 24.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Old Dominion Freight Line will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Old Dominion Freight Line

In other Old Dominion Freight Line news, SVP Cecil Overbey, Jr. sold 19,952 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.39, for a total value of $3,958,277.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 22,746 shares in the company, valued at $4,512,578.94. This trade represents a 46.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Old Dominion Freight Line

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Old Dominion Freight Line during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new position in Old Dominion Freight Line in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EFG International AG acquired a new position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 80.5% during the first quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.82% of the company's stock.

Old Dominion Freight Line News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Old Dominion Freight Line this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Old Dominion reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.65 per share, above the $1.61 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 13.1% year over year to $1.59 billion, exceeding expectations of $1.57 billion. Stronger pricing, yield improvement and cost controls supported the results. Old Dominion Freight Line Q3 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: The operating ratio improved 280 basis points to 71.5%, indicating better efficiency and helping drive year-over-year earnings growth from $1.28 per share. Old Dominion: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Despite lowering their targets, Wells Fargo maintained an Overweight rating at $220, and Stifel maintained a Buy rating at $224. These targets imply substantial potential upside from recent trading levels. Wells Fargo Old Dominion Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Management guided to fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $1.54 billion to $1.58 billion, suggesting continued growth but a potentially slower pace than the third quarter. Old Dominion Fourth-Quarter Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: The projected fourth-quarter operating ratio of 73.5% would be meaningfully worse than the third-quarter level, fueling concerns that freight-volume weakness could pressure margins even as pricing remains firm.
• Negative Sentiment: Raymond James lowered its price target to $210, while Wells Fargo cut its target from $250 to $220 and Stifel reduced its target from $230 to $224. Although ratings remain bullish, the cuts signal more cautious expectations for the freight recovery and near-term profitability. Raymond James Old Dominion Price Target

About Old Dominion Freight Line

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc is a transportation company specializing in less-than-truckload (LTL) freight services. It transports shipments that do not require a full truck, serving business customers across a range of industries with regional, interregional and national freight transportation.

The company's services include pickup and delivery, expedited transportation, container drayage and supply-chain solutions. Old Dominion also provides shipment tracking and other technology-enabled tools designed to support freight visibility and customer logistics management.

Founded in 1934 by Earl Congdon, Old Dominion Freight Line is headquartered in Thomasville, North Carolina.

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