Blair William & Co. IL Acquires 1,551 Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,433 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,551 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation were worth $288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 61.6% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 20,109 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 7,666 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 3rd quarter valued at $289,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 80,992 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,370,000 after acquiring an additional 24,356 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 30,408 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

NYSE:KNX opened at $39.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.44 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.84 and a 200 day moving average of $52.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.69 and a 1-year high of $61.51.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is an increase from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is currently 98.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Douglas L. Col purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $45.37 per share, with a total value of $226,850.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,850. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KNX shares. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their price target 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. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $63.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.24.

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.