Knight-Swift Transportation Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:KNX)

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 8,761 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 272% compared to the typical volume of 2,356 call options.

Insider Activity at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Douglas L. Col bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,850. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 9,383.3% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 569 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 93.4% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 642 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 88.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 685 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,133 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 167.2% in the 4th quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 1,336 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $44.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a PE ratio of 60.74 and a beta of 1.18. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $36.69 and a twelve month high of $61.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KNX shares. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $54.00 to $45.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $66.00 to $55.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.33.

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.