Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on KNX. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,703,061.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total value of $28,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,754,625.90. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the third quarter worth about $3,729,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,146,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,878,000 after purchasing an additional 26,346 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co raised 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 purchasing an additional 52,323 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 116.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 130,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,056,000 after purchasing an additional 70,276 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:KNX opened at $54.87 on Tuesday. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12-month low of $45.55 and a 12-month high of $60.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a PE ratio of 238.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.27.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 1.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 278.27%.

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.