Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Short Interest Up 6.8% in December

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,560,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the December 15th total of 6,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 4.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,703,061.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $28,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,754,625.90. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the fourth quarter worth $209,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,407 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 14,831 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $787,000 after buying an additional 3,555 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock traded down $1.48 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $54.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,867,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,425,211. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 238.55, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.98. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1-year low of $45.55 and a 1-year high of $60.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.27.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 1.81% and a net margin of 0.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 278.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KNX shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lowered shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.56.

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.