Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Downgraded by Bank of America to Neutral

Bank of America cut shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has $46.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $66.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $67.00 to $54.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $63.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.59.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

NYSE:KNX opened at $43.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.91 and a beta of 0.97. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12-month low of $42.34 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $50.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.03.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 98.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Douglas L. Col bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,850. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KNX. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,021,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 30.9% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,771,000 after buying an additional 16,500 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 116.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 130,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,056,000 after acquiring an additional 70,276 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,175,335 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,340,000 after acquiring an additional 28,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,242,000 after acquiring an additional 115,447 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

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.