Argus Downgrades Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) to Hold

Argus lowered shares of Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $228.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $204.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $199.00 to $188.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $200.00.

Old Dominion Freight Line Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of ODFL stock opened at $215.57 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $201.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.23. 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 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 has a twelve month low of $165.49 and a twelve month high of $233.26.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Old Dominion Freight Line had a net margin of 21.03% and a return on equity of 29.40%. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Old Dominion Freight Line will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Old Dominion Freight Line’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman David S. Congdon sold 29,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.30, for a total transaction of $6,033,967.50. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,401,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,146,307.30. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Leo H. Suggs sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 28.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,975 shares of company stock worth $10,062,478. Company insiders own 9.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Old Dominion Freight Line

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 189.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 98.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 43,188 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,471,000 after purchasing an additional 21,438 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 51.4% in the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 952 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 134.1% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,343 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 2,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Old Dominion Freight Line in the first quarter valued at approximately $337,000. 77.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.