Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.83.

KNX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citizens Jmp started coverage on Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a report on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $84.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Stephens raised Knight-Swift Transportation to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Reid Dove sold 126,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.13, for a total value of $9,277,564.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Vander Ploeg sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.33, for a total transaction of $115,126.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,252 shares in the company, valued at $1,583,087.16. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 224,954 shares of company stock worth $16,183,454 in the last three months. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,458,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $486,995,000 after acquiring an additional 60,750 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the second quarter valued at approximately $173,669,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 24.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 842,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,519,000 after buying an additional 166,919 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 38.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 595,649 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,297,000 after acquiring an additional 166,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 152.4% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 426,026 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,175,000 after purchasing an additional 257,256 shares in the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $63.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average is $67.38 and its 200 day moving average is $69.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $41.24 and a twelve month high of $82.86.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.12. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.56% and a return on equity of 3.51%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 307.69%.

Knight-Swift Transportation Company Profile

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides freight services across North America. The company operates one of the largest truckload fleets in the United States and serves a broad range of industries through its network of company-owned equipment, independent contractors, terminals and distribution facilities.

Its services include dry-van, refrigerated and flatbed truckload transportation; dedicated and expedited delivery; less-than-truckload shipping; freight brokerage; intermodal transportation; cross-border logistics; and warehousing and other supply-chain services.