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

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.71.

Several analysts recently commented on KNX shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Knight-Swift Transportation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $47.00 in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen cut their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America cut their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $112,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,118 shares in the company, valued at $287,836.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the first quarter worth about $365,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 95.3% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 92,172 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,071,000 after purchasing an additional 44,987 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the first quarter valued at approximately $353,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.4% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 46,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 9.1% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 109,035 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,999,000 after purchasing an additional 9,079 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of KNX opened at $46.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Knight-Swift Transportation has a one year low of $45.73 and a one year high of $60.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.97, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.52 and a 200 day moving average of $54.15.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.07). Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.53% and a net margin of 1.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. This is an increase from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is presently 95.52%.

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.