Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.14

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 27th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share by the transportation company on Monday, September 25th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 7th.

Knight-Swift Transportation has increased its dividend payment by an average of 26.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Knight-Swift Transportation has a payout ratio of 17.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Knight-Swift Transportation to earn $3.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.0%.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE KNX opened at $55.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. Knight-Swift Transportation has a one year low of $45.63 and a one year high of $64.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.18.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The transportation company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 8.08%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KNX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen cut their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $66.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.19, for a total transaction of $6,019,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,497,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,126,098.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.00, for a total value of $118,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,920. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.19, for a total value of $6,019,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,497,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,126,098.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,296 shares of company stock valued at $6,210,755 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 543.2% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 939 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 62.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,905 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,494 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.88% 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 transportations services, which include irregular route and dedicated, refrigerated, expedited, flatbed, and cross-border operations.