Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Raised to “Positive” at Susquehanna

Susquehanna upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) from a neutral rating to a positive rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $67.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $48.00.

KNX has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI raised 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 note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America cut their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.19.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Up 3.4 %

KNX stock opened at $54.52 on Friday. Knight-Swift Transportation has a fifty-two week low of $45.55 and a fifty-two week high of $60.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $55.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.81. The company has a market cap of $8.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 237.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 278.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,703,061.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $28,550.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,729 shares in the company, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,729,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,146,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,878,000 after buying an additional 26,346 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 30.9% during 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 lifted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 681.6% during 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 boosted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 116.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 130,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,056,000 after buying an additional 70,276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

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.