Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) – Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN), Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR)

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. ODFL shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with ODFL holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of indicators shareholders can use to track stocks. A pair of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outpace the broader indices by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are many motivations for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the recent action surrounding Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL).

How are hedge funds trading Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 8% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the biggest position in Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL). Citadel Investment Group has a $44 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Bill Miller of Legg Mason Capital Management, with a $17 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management and John Brennan’s Sirios Capital Management.

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, created the biggest position in Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL). Millennium Management had 3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors also initiated a $1 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors.

What have insiders been doing with Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL). These stocks are Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX), Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN), Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW), Swift Transportation Co (NYSE:SWFT), and Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR). This group of stocks are in the trucking industry and their market caps resemble ODFL’s market cap.

With the returns shown by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) is an important part of this process.