Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $51.52, but opened at $53.99. Knight-Swift Transportation shares last traded at $53.29, with a volume of 211,529 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on KNX. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup started coverage on Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research cut Knight-Swift Transportation from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.88.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Down 3.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.43.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 1.98% and a net margin of 0.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued 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 1.24%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 156.10%.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.33, for a total value of $1,509,900.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,467,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,852,228.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.33, for a total transaction of $1,509,900.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,467,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,852,228.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total transaction of $2,318,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,422,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,294,210.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 85,196 shares of company stock valued at $4,367,869. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the third quarter valued at $361,000. Creative Planning grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,133 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Country Trust Bank raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.4% in the third quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 599,849 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,362,000 after buying an additional 8,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the third quarter worth approximately $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

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.