Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $185.00 to $170.00. The stock had previously closed at $158.90, but opened at $149.28. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Old Dominion Freight Line shares last traded at $148.81, with a volume of 383,173 shares changing hands.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on ODFL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Old Dominion Freight Line from $188.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Old Dominion Freight Line from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $237.00 to $204.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $174.00 to $158.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $183.37.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Old Dominion Freight Line

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in the 4th quarter valued at about $494,916,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Old Dominion Freight Line by 1,575.9% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,447,784 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $255,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,397 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Old Dominion Freight Line in the fourth quarter valued at $128,221,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in the fourth quarter valued at about $114,449,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 92.3% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,195,331 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $210,856,000 after buying an additional 573,586 shares during the period. 77.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Old Dominion Freight Line Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $163.30 and a 200-day moving average of $186.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $31.96 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.25.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. Old Dominion Freight Line had a return on equity of 28.02% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from Old Dominion Freight Line's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Old Dominion Freight Line's payout ratio is 21.01%.

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.