Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,930,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the July 31st total of 5,540,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.14.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE KNX opened at $52.44 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12-month low of $45.55 and a 12-month high of $60.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.93.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.88% and a return on equity of 1.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 95.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.33, for a total transaction of $1,509,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,467,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,852,228.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 30,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.33, for a total transaction of $1,509,900.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,467,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,852,228.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael K. Liu sold 5,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $304,679.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 85,196 shares of company stock valued at $4,367,869. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 76,849 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,837,000 after purchasing an additional 24,451 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP bought a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation in the second quarter worth about $30,251,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 39.7% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,188 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after buying an additional 5,736 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 862.3% during the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 49,106 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,451,000 after buying an additional 44,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 309.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,068,323 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,331,000 after buying an additional 807,572 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

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.