Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys New Shares in Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. $ODFL

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,407 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $954,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 134.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,213 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,690,000 after buying an additional 5,866 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Old Dominion Freight Line in the second quarter worth approximately $7,478,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Old Dominion Freight Line during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,891,000. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its position in Old Dominion Freight Line by 1.2% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 20,253 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,287,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $232.00) on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $229.00 target price on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Old Dominion Freight Line presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $226.55.

Old Dominion Freight Line Price Performance

ODFL opened at $198.34 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $218.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.64. The firm has a market cap of $41.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.18. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.01 and a 1 year high of $252.03.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.78 EPS for the current year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. Old Dominion Freight Line’s payout ratio is presently 22.35%.

About Old Dominion Freight Line

Old Dominion Freight Line is a U.S.-based less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation company that provides regional, inter-regional and national freight services. Founded in 1934 and headquartered in Thomasville, North Carolina, the company has grown from a regional carrier into a national freight network, operating a broad system of service centers and terminals to move shipments for shippers of varying sizes and industries.

The company’s core business is LTL trucking, offering scheduled pickup and delivery for palletized freight that does not require a full truckload.