Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Short Interest Update

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

Insider Activity

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,703,061.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total value of $28,550.00. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 87.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 747 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on KNX shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.38.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KNX traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $56.37. 684,312 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,199,791. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1-year low of $45.55 and a 1-year high of $61.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.26 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $55.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.82.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.43% and a net margin of 1.59%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.67%.

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.