Brown Advisory Inc. Increases Stock Position in Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. $ODFL

Key Points

• Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 28% in the fourth quarter, buying 106,287 more shares and bringing its total to 486,366 shares valued at about $76.3 million.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $215.43, though Stephens recently raised its target to $240 and kept an overweight rating.
• Old Dominion Freight Line reported quarterly EPS of $1.14, topping estimates, and announced a $0.29 quarterly dividend; however, a company director also sold 22,107 shares in early May.

Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL - Free Report) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 486,366 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 106,287 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 0.23% of Old Dominion Freight Line worth $76,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 645 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,181 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. grew its holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 3,883 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank grew its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 3,127 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ODFL shares. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $232.00) on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $216.00 target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $202.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $215.43.

Old Dominion Freight Line Stock Performance

Shares of Old Dominion Freight Line stock opened at $245.75 on Monday. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.01 and a 12-month high of $252.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.41, a PEG ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 1.17. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $215.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $189.93.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.09. Old Dominion Freight Line had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 23.42%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Old Dominion Freight Line's revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.38 EPS 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, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Old Dominion Freight Line's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Old Dominion Freight Line

In other news, Director Greg C. Gantt sold 22,107 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total value of $4,233,932.64. Following the sale, the director owned 88,551 shares in the company, valued at $16,959,287.52. This represents a 19.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 10.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Old Dominion Freight Line

Old Dominion Freight Line is a U.S.-based less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation company that provides regional, inter-regional and national freight services. Founded in 1934 and headquartered in Thomasville, North Carolina, the company has grown from a regional carrier into a national freight network, operating a broad system of service centers and terminals to move shipments for shippers of varying sizes and industries.

The company's core business is LTL trucking, offering scheduled pickup and delivery for palletized freight that does not require a full truckload.

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