Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Hits New 12-Month High After Strong Earnings

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $61.51 and last traded at $57.29, with a volume of 1188916 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $55.00.

The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 1.81%.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 278.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KNX. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Susquehanna raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related news, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $28,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,754,625.90. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,703,061.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 87.2% during 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake 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 valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Up 4.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 250.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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.