Five Trucking Stocks Hedge Funds Are Betting On

#3 Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL)

-Hedge Funds with Long Positions (as of September 30): 28

-Aggregate Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of September 30): $296.4 million

Moving on, Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) has had a gradual decline this year and currently trades down 26% year-to-date. In October and November the less-than-truckload (“LTL”) tons per day for the company grew by 4.4% and 3.1% respectively year-over-year, while the LTL shipments per day saw a year-over-year increase of 9.7% and 8.7% respectively during the same months. On Monday, analysts at Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL)’s stock with a ‘Hold’ rating. Billionaire David E. Shaw‘s fund, D.E. Shaw, reduced its stake in the company by 9% to 412,301 shares during the July-September period.

#2 J B Hunt Transport Services Inc (NASDAQ:JBHT)

-Hedge Funds with Long Positions (as of September 30): 32

-Aggregate Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of September 30): $336.7 million

Even though its stock has declined by over 16% year-to-date, J B Hunt Transport Services Inc (NASDAQ:JBHT) has still emerged as the best performing stock in 2015 from this list. This relative resilience also explains why nine more funds became bullish on the company during the third quarter. J B Hunt Transport Services Inc (NASDAQ:JBHT) currently trades at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 17.35 and price-to-book multiple of 6.66, which is higher than its peer group’s average. Billionaire Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies made an over sixfold  increase in its stake in J B Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter to 674,654 shares.

#1 Swift Transportation Co (NYSE:SWFT)

-Hedge Funds with Long Positions (as of September 30): 38

-Aggregate Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of September 30): $268.38 million

Finally, the over 50% year-to-date decline in its stock notwithstanding, Swift Transportation Co (NYSE:SWFT) was the most popular trucking stock among hedge funds going into the fourth quarter. Amid a 33.74% drop of the stock in the third quarter, the number of funds bullish on the company increased by six, while the aggregate value of their holdings fell by $155 million. On December 2, analysts at Bank of America downgraded the stock to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ and also lowered their price target on it to $17 from $21. Revered trader Steve Cohen‘s family office Point72 Asset Management increased its stake in Swift Transportation Co (NYSE:SWFT) by 176% to over 2.5 million shares during the July-September period.

Disclosure: None