Insider Monkey finished processing more than 700 13F filings made by hedge funds and prominent investors. These filings show these funds’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article we are going to take a look at smart money sentiment towards Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL).
Old Dominion Freight Line has seen an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently. ODFL was in 28 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 27 hedge funds in our database with ODFL holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare ODFL to other stocks, including Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO), Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ANAC), and Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL)
Follow Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL)
In the eyes of most market participants, hedge funds are seen as worthless, old financial vehicles of the past. While there are over 8000 funds with their doors open today, We hone in on the upper echelon of this group, approximately 700 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people direct bulk of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their unrivaled stock picks, Insider Monkey has formulated a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points a year for a decade in their back tests.
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the new action regarding Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL).
What have hedge funds been doing with Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL)?
At the Q3’s end, a total of 28 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 4% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Sirios Capital Management, managed by John Brennan, holds the most valuable position in Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL). Sirios Capital Management has a $74.1 million position in the stock, comprising 2.4% of its 13F portfolio. On Sirios Capital Management’s heels is Stelliam Investment Management, led by Ross Margolies, holding a $54.9 million position; the fund has 1.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other members of the smart money that hold long positions comprise Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies.
As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Stevens Capital Management, managed by Matthew Tewksbury, initiated the most outsized position in Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL). Stevens Capital Management had $3.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Hondros’ AlphaOne Capital Partners also made a $3.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new ODFL investors: Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital, Jonathan Dawson’s Southport Management, and George Hall’s Clinton Group.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL). These stocks are Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO), Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ANAC), Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX), and Avery Dennison Corp (NYSE:AVY). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to ODFL’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| FLO | 17 | 221974 | 3 |
| ANAC | 36 | 1499557 | 2 |
| TFX | 21 | 547458 | 4 |
| AVY | 19 | 206152 | 2 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 23 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $619 million, which is higher than the $296 million in ODFL’s case. Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ANAC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) is the least popular one with only 17 bullish hedge fund positions. Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard ANAC might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
