Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.22.

Several research firms have recently commented on KNX. Zacks Research lowered Knight-Swift Transportation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Knight-Swift Transportation stock traded up $1.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $63.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,742,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,768,670. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $41.24 and a twelve month high of $82.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.18. The firm has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.52, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.20.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The transportation company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.07. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.92% and a return on equity of 4.71%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 86.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. North Dakota State Investment Board grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.4% during the third quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 4,842 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.6% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,758 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 55.8% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.1% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 23,026 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 5.5% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,990 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Company Profile

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings is a transportation and logistics company providing freight services primarily across North America. Its offerings include truckload transportation, less-than-truckload shipping, freight brokerage, logistics and intermodal services. The company’s truckload operations serve a range of shipping needs, including dry van, refrigerated, flatbed and dedicated transportation. Its network also supports cross-border freight movements between the United States, Mexico and Canada.