Alliancebernstein L.P. Boosts Stake in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Free Report) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 292,859 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 49,899 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.18% of Knight-Swift Transportation worth $15,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 88.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 685 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,201 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,254 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KNX shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $66.00 to $55.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $67.00 to $54.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.94.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of KNX traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.17. 106,501 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,299,755. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.69 and a 1 year high of $61.51. The firm's fifty day moving average is $47.45 and its 200-day moving average is $52.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.02 and a beta of 1.16.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. This is a boost from Knight-Swift Transportation's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Knight-Swift Transportation's payout ratio is presently 98.63%.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Douglas L. Col purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $45.37 per share, with a total value of $226,850.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $226,850. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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.