Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Short Interest Update

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,560,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the December 31st total of 6,140,000 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,860,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the company’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 $1,754,625.90. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 87.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 747 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 71.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Knight-Swift Transportation stock traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $56.07. 395,061 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,184,894. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.78. The company has a market cap of $9.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.76 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $45.55 and a twelve month high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. Equities analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KNX has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.38.

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.