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

Key Points

• Old Dominion Freight Line has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold”, based on 26 covering firms; the average 12-month price target is about $215.43.
• The company recently reported Q1 earnings of $1.14 per share, topping estimates of $1.05, while revenue came in at $1.33 billion, also slightly ahead of expectations.
• Old Dominion announced a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share to be paid June 17, and the stock has also seen recent insider selling, including a director’s sale of 22,107 shares.

Shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the twenty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, sixteen have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $215.4348.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore set a $219.00 price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $228.00 to $232.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $232.00) on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Thursday, June 4th.

Old Dominion Freight Line Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ODFL opened at $245.75 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $215.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 1.17. Old Dominion Freight Line has a 1 year low of $126.01 and a 1 year high of $252.03.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. Old Dominion Freight Line had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 23.42%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Old Dominion Freight Line will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. Old Dominion Freight Line's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.27%.

Insider Transactions at Old Dominion Freight Line

In related news, Director Greg C. Gantt sold 22,107 shares of Old Dominion Freight Line stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 88,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,959,287.52. This trade represents a 19.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 10.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Old Dominion Freight Line

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line by 21.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,544,588 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $499,007,000 after buying an additional 622,275 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line by 46.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,040,681 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $146,507,000 after buying an additional 329,895 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 20,103 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,157,000 after buying an additional 5,610 shares during the period. Quantum Capital Management LLC NJ lifted its holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line by 26.2% in the third quarter. Quantum Capital Management LLC NJ now owns 594,391 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $83,678,000 after buying an additional 123,271 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new position in Old Dominion Freight Line in the fourth quarter valued at $13,322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.82% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.