ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 31,695 Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL)

ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 31,695 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,591,000. Old Dominion Freight Line makes up approximately 5.0% of ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ODFL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 109.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,435,228 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $285,094,000 after buying an additional 750,073 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line during the 4th quarter worth $128,221,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 19,764.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 685,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $136,130,000 after buying an additional 681,858 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 74.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,022,812 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $207,068,000 after buying an additional 437,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,633,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,516,324,000 after buying an additional 279,946 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ODFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Old Dominion Freight Line from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Old Dominion Freight Line from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Old Dominion Freight Line from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Old Dominion Freight Line has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $203.33.

Old Dominion Freight Line Stock Down 8.5 %

Old Dominion Freight Line stock opened at $180.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.05. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. has a 52 week low of $165.49 and a 52 week high of $233.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $188.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The transportation company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from Old Dominion Freight Line’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Old Dominion Freight Line’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.98%.

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.