HighTower Advisors LLC Takes Position in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,002 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of 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 holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 71.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,201 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,254 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 18.5% in the 4th 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Douglas L. Col bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $226,850. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on KNX. Bank of America cut shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $66.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $53.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Benchmark started coverage on Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $63.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.24.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.01. 4,842,310 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,249,146. The company has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.44 and a beta of 0.97. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.69 and a fifty-two week high of $61.51. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.79.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This is a boost from Knight-Swift Transportation's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Knight-Swift Transportation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.63%.

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.