Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.60.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KNX shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $52.74 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $52.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.37. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1 year low of $45.55 and a 1 year high of $60.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.03). Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.88% and a return on equity of 1.98%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Knight-Swift Transportation’s revenue was up 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 95.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael Garnreiter sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.57, for a total transaction of $101,140.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $892,459.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total value of $2,318,850.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,422,360 shares in the company, valued at $73,294,210.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Garnreiter sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.57, for a total transaction of $101,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,648 shares in the company, valued at $892,459.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 85,196 shares of company stock worth $4,367,869. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Duality Advisers LP increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1,686.4% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 66,098 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after purchasing an additional 62,398 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,935,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 9.0% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 263,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,131,000 after purchasing an additional 21,689 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 21.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 89,821 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,942,000 after purchasing an additional 15,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,162,000. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Company Profile

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services in the United States and Mexico. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Less-than-truckload (LTL), Logistics, and Intermodal. The Truckload segment provides transportation services, which include irregular route and dedicated, refrigerated, expedited, flatbed, and cross-border operations.