Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $50.60.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $44.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Douglas L. Col purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $45.37 per share, with a total value of $226,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,850. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,344,372 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $362,897,000 after purchasing an additional 364,263 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,991,354 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $370,819,000 after buying an additional 505,543 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,201,276 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $221,541,000 after buying an additional 125,827 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,556,405 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $188,632,000 after acquiring an additional 63,241 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,885,438 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $100,004,000 after acquiring an additional 507,370 shares in the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

NYSE KNX opened at $40.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.75. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12-month low of $36.69 and a 12-month high of $61.51. The company has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.43% and a net margin of 1.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 76.60%.

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.