Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Receives $56.38 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.38.

Several research firms have commented on KNX. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,703,061.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $28,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,754,625.90. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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 company. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the third quarter worth $70,185,000. Interval Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 8,520.1% during the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 1,293,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278,011 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 1,728.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,330,934 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $66,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,157 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 27.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,431,299 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $271,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,176,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $53,331,000 after purchasing an additional 807,572 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

NYSE:KNX opened at $56.53 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $54.64 and its 200-day moving average is $52.07. The stock has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 245.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.96. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1-year low of $45.55 and a 1-year high of $60.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 1.81% and a net margin of 0.50%. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 278.26%.

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.