Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 2,302 Shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 63,442 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line were worth $11,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Old Dominion Freight Line in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Old Dominion Freight Line in the third quarter valued at $45,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Old Dominion Freight Line in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Old Dominion Freight Line by 398.1% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 269 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Old Dominion Freight Line in the third quarter valued at $64,000. 77.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ODFL. Evercore ISI upped 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Argus lowered Old Dominion Freight Line from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Old Dominion Freight Line from $205.00 to $186.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Old Dominion Freight Line from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Old Dominion Freight Line from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.74.

Old Dominion Freight Line Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:ODFL opened at $177.97 on Tuesday. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. has a 1-year low of $165.49 and a 1-year high of $233.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $187.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.29. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $37.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.10.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last released 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from Old Dominion Freight Line’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Old Dominion Freight Line’s dividend payout ratio 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.