Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Price Target Cut to $57.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $62.00 to $57.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $50.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital cut Knight-Swift Transportation from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $57.77.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $48.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $54.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $45.73 and a twelve month high of $60.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The transportation company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.38). Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 3.04% and a return on equity of 3.93%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is currently 48.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total transaction of $112,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,118 shares in the company, valued at $287,836.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 76,395 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,855,000 after purchasing an additional 13,808 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 57.6% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,450 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 5,283 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 23.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 13,997 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 2,677 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.8% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 211,351 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,126,000 after acquiring an additional 7,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 141,380 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,135,000 after acquiring an additional 8,923 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.