Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 89,395 Shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) by 26.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 421,140 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,395 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line were worth $83,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 73.1% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 187 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Old Dominion Freight Line during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 472.5% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 229 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line by 398.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 269 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. 77.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ODFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their target price on Old Dominion Freight Line from $203.00 to $196.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Argus downgraded Old Dominion Freight Line from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $204.00.

Insider Activity at Old Dominion Freight Line

In other Old Dominion Freight Line news, Director Leo H. Suggs sold 3,000 shares of Old Dominion Freight Line stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.44, for a total transaction of $676,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,664,423.52. This trade represents a 28.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Greg C. Gantt sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.07, for a total value of $1,400,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 97,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,584,852.30. This represents a 6.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Old Dominion Freight Line Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ODFL opened at $181.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.60. The firm has a market cap of $38.72 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.00. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. has a 12-month low of $165.49 and a 12-month high of $233.26.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.01. Old Dominion Freight Line had a net margin of 21.03% and a return on equity of 29.40%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. Old Dominion Freight Line’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Old Dominion Freight Line’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.18%.

Old Dominion Freight Line 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.