Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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, January 16th. Susquehanna raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.38.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Down 0.6 %

KNX opened at $57.22 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12 month low of $45.55 and a 12 month high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 30,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,754,625.90. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,729,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,146,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,878,000 after buying an additional 26,346 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 30.9% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,771,000 after buying an additional 16,500 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 681.6% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 60,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after buying an additional 52,323 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 116.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 130,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,056,000 after acquiring an additional 70,276 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Knight-Swift Transportation

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.