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

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 421,140 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,395 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Old Dominion Freight Line worth $83,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ODFL. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in Old Dominion Freight Line by 73.1% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 187 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 472.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 229 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line during the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 398.1% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ODFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Old Dominion Freight Line from $225.00 to $218.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $201.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Old Dominion Freight Line from $213.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Old Dominion Freight Line from $204.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Old Dominion Freight Line from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $209.00 to $197.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Old Dominion Freight Line currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.00.

Old Dominion Freight Line Trading Down 3.4 %

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

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Old Dominion Freight Line had a return on equity of 29.40% and a net margin of 21.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Dividend Announcement

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

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.