Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Stock Price

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price target upped by Bank of America from $61.00 to $63.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on KNX. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.56.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $54.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 238.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.39 and a 200-day moving average of $53.25. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 52 week low of $45.55 and a 52 week high of $60.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 1.81% and a net margin of 0.50%. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 278.27%.

Insider Activity at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related news, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $28,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,754,625.90. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,407 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 14,831 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 3,555 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

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.