Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KNX. Citigroup cut Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

KNX stock opened at $53.04 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $55.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 230.62, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.96. Knight-Swift Transportation has a fifty-two week low of $45.55 and a fifty-two week high of $60.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 1.81%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 278.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,703,061.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was 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 $1,754,625.90. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 21.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,242,000 after buying an additional 115,447 shares during the period. American Trust purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the third quarter worth $70,185,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the third quarter worth $378,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 5.9% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 81,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,392,000 after purchasing an additional 4,551 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.