Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) by 36.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,885,438 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 507,370 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.16% of Knight-Swift Transportation worth $100,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 88.7% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 685 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 71.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of KNX stock opened at $45.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.73 and a beta of 0.97. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $42.34 and a one year high of $61.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.98.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.43% and a net margin of 1.59%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is presently 98.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KNX has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Bank of America cut shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark began coverage on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $63.00 price target on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Douglas L. Col acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $226,850. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation 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.