Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,895 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line were worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Old Dominion Freight Line during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 398.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 269 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Old Dominion Freight Line by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 352 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Old Dominion Freight Line in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $237.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Old Dominion Freight Line from $176.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Old Dominion Freight Line from $199.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.33.

Old Dominion Freight Line Stock Performance

ODFL opened at $201.78 on Tuesday. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. has a 1-year low of $165.49 and a 1-year high of $233.26. The stock has a market cap of $43.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.82, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.06. Old Dominion Freight Line had a return on equity of 28.02% and a net margin of 20.40%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from Old Dominion Freight Line’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Old Dominion Freight Line’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.98%.

Old Dominion Freight Line Company Profile

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.