Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Susquehanna

Susquehanna upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) from a neutral rating to a positive rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $67.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $48.00.

KNX has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lowered Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.19.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KNX opened at $54.52 on Friday. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12-month low of $45.55 and a 12-month high of $60.99. The company has a market cap of $8.83 billion, a PE ratio of 237.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 278.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total value of $28,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,754,625.90. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,703,061.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.8% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,633 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 12,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 28.6% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 900 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 4.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 5,182 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.