MML Investors Services LLC Raises Position in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) by 4.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,182 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 228 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the third quarter worth approximately $3,729,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,146,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,878,000 after purchasing an additional 26,346 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,771,000 after buying an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 681.6% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 60,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,237,000 after buying an additional 52,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 116.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 130,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,056,000 after acquiring an additional 70,276 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup downgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,703,061.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was 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 owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,754,625.90. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of KNX opened at $53.26 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a PE ratio of 231.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.96. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $45.55 and a one year high of $60.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company 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 firm’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 278.26%.

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.