Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $59.38.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup cut Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related 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 transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were 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 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. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 190,884 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,124,000 after buying an additional 1,756 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 177,112 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,394,000 after buying an additional 2,837 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,924 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 933,359 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,505,000 after buying an additional 280,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,197 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

KNX opened at $57.09 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $55.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.76. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12-month low of $45.55 and a 12-month high of $61.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.21 and a beta of 0.98.

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, 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%. Equities analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. 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.