StockNews.com Upgrades Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) to Hold

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Susquehanna raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.38.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

KNX opened at $57.22 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.38. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12-month low of $45.55 and a 12-month high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. Research analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,703,061.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the 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. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 5,182 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 348 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.