Sanford C. Bernstein Upgrades Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) to Hold

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $234.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $263.00 target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $231.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $227.65.

Old Dominion Freight Line Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ODFL opened at $179.79 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $211.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.28 billion, a PE ratio of 34.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.16. Old Dominion Freight Line has a fifty-two week low of $126.01 and a fifty-two week high of $252.03.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Old Dominion Freight Line had a return on equity of 24.87% and a net margin of 19.44%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Old Dominion Freight Line will post 5.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Cecil Overbey, Jr. sold 19,952 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.39, for a total transaction of $3,958,277.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 22,746 shares in the company, valued at $4,512,578.94. This represents a 46.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Old Dominion Freight Line

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ODFL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Old Dominion Freight Line by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Old Dominion Freight Line by 134.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,213 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 5,866 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,478,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,891,000. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 20,253 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,287,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. 77.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Old Dominion Freight Line Company Profile

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc is a transportation and logistics company that specializes in less-than-truckload (LTL) freight services. The company transports shipments that do not require a full trailer, consolidating freight from multiple customers and providing regional, inter-regional and nationwide service.

Its service offerings include expedited transportation, truckload brokerage, container drayage, warehousing and supply chain consulting. Old Dominion operates a network of service centers and transportation facilities designed to support pickup and delivery, freight handling and distribution throughout the contiguous United States, with additional cross-border service to Canada and Mexico.

Founded in 1934 by Earl and Lillian Congdon, the company is headquartered in Thomasville, North Carolina.