Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Trading Down 6.2% – What’s Next?

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) were down 6.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $51.04 and last traded at $50.09. Approximately 285,198 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 2,124,659 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KNX. Citigroup downgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $48.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.38.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.86 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.06.

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

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.67%.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,185,000. Interval Partners LP lifted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 320.7% in the fourth quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 1,754,822 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $93,076,000 after buying an additional 1,337,727 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,839,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,355,000. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 59.5% in the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,435,562 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $76,142,000 after buying an additional 535,518 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.