Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.29

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share by the transportation company on Wednesday, December 16th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 2nd.

Old Dominion Freight Line has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 5 consecutive years. Old Dominion Freight Line has a payout ratio of 19.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Old Dominion Freight Line to earn $6.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.2%.

Old Dominion Freight Line Stock Performance

Shares of ODFL stock opened at $189.89 on Friday. Old Dominion Freight Line has a fifty-two week low of $126.01 and a fifty-two week high of $252.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.59, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.46.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $1.68 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Old Dominion Freight Line had a net margin of 19.44% and a return on equity of 24.87%. Old Dominion Freight Line’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Old Dominion Freight Line will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ODFL shares. Wolfe Research raised Old Dominion Freight Line from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Citigroup raised Old Dominion Freight Line from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $231.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Old Dominion Freight Line from $232.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $227.00 price objective (down from $250.00) on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up from $235.00) on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.48.

About Old Dominion Freight Line

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc is a transportation company specializing in less-than-truckload (LTL) freight services. It transports shipments that do not require a full truck, serving business customers across a range of industries with regional, interregional and national freight transportation.

The company’s services include pickup and delivery, expedited transportation, container drayage and supply-chain solutions. Old Dominion also provides shipment tracking and other technology-enabled tools designed to support freight visibility and customer logistics management.

Founded in 1934 by Earl Congdon, Old Dominion Freight Line is headquartered in Thomasville, North Carolina.