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

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,900,000 shares, a decline of 16.1% from the November 15th total of 7,030,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $28,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,754,625.90. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 168.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 923 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 126.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 74,138 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,701,000 after purchasing an additional 41,409 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.3% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,376 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the second quarter worth about $256,000. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,707,000. Institutional investors own 88.77% of the company's stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

KNX traded down $0.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $55.43. 1,127,598 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,036,614. The company's 50-day moving average is $55.03 and its 200 day moving average is $52.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of 240.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.96. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 52 week low of $45.55 and a 52 week high of $60.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 1.81%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Knight-Swift Transportation's dividend payout ratio is currently 278.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KNX shares. Citigroup cut Knight-Swift Transportation from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $56.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.81.

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.