Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Upgraded to “Buy” at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX – Get Rating) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning, Briefing.com reports. Citigroup currently has $66.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $58.00.

KNX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Credit Suisse Group cut Knight-Swift Transportation from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 17th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Friday, April 21st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $70.00 to $67.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $65.35.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE KNX opened at $56.36 on Monday. Knight-Swift Transportation has a one year low of $43.53 and a one year high of $64.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.89.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 20th. The transportation company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.10). Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 64,139 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.59, for a total value of $3,629,626.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Timothy Sean Harrington sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.98, for a total transaction of $96,866.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,582 shares in the company, valued at $261,082.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 64,139 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.59, for a total value of $3,629,626.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,139 shares of company stock valued at $3,799,422 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC bought a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 42.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 594 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 111.9% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 657 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.95% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Company Profile

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Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, Inc engages in the provision of multiple truckload transportation and logistics services. It operates through the following business segments: Trucking, Logistics, and Intermodal. The Trucking segment comprises irregular route and dedicated, refrigerated, expedited, flatbed, and cross-border operations.