Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.38.

KNX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other news, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total value of $28,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,754,625.90. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,703,061.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 66.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 86,727 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,329,000 after purchasing an additional 34,500 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 175,813 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $8,777,000 after buying an additional 35,809 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 61.3% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 30,819 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,538,000 after buying an additional 11,710 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 175.5% in the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 20,251 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 12,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the second quarter worth about $206,000. 88.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 0.2 %

KNX stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Monday, reaching $58.20. 436,450 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,239,758. The firm has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.98. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $45.55 and a twelve month high of $61.51. The firm's 50 day moving average is $55.45 and its 200 day moving average is $53.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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, research analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.11 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation's dividend payout ratio is 87.67%.

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.