Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Given New $56.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price target lifted by TD Cowen from $55.00 to $56.00 in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on KNX. Bank of America increased their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.88.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $51.94 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.37. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 52-week low of $45.55 and a 52-week high of $60.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 126.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.92.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.88% and a return on equity of 1.98%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 156.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert E. Synowicki, Jr. sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.32, for a total transaction of $133,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,164,135.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Robert E. Synowicki, Jr. sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.32, for a total transaction of $133,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,164,135.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.33, for a total transaction of $1,509,900.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,467,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,852,228.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 85,196 shares of company stock worth $4,367,869. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Interval Partners LP increased its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 8,520.1% in the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 1,293,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278,011 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 1,728.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,330,934 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $66,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,157 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 27.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,431,299 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $271,121,000 after buying an additional 1,176,069 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 309.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,068,323 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,331,000 after buying an additional 807,572 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,594,817 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $379,133,000 after buying an additional 744,412 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

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.