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

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.60.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KNX. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on Knight-Swift Transportation in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

KNX stock opened at $52.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.72, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.92. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $45.55 and a twelve month high of $60.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.03). Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.88% and a return on equity of 1.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. Knight-Swift Transportation’s revenue was up 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Michael Garnreiter sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.57, for a total value of $101,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $892,459.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Michael Garnreiter sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.57, for a total value of $101,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,648 shares in the company, valued at $892,459.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael K. Liu sold 5,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total value of $304,679.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 85,196 shares of company stock valued at $4,367,869. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Interval Partners LP increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 8,520.1% during the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 1,293,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278,011 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1,728.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,330,934 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $66,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,157 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,431,299 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $271,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176,069 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 309.7% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,068,323 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,331,000 after purchasing an additional 807,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,594,817 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $379,133,000 after purchasing an additional 744,412 shares in the last quarter. 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.