Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Short Interest Up 6.8% in January

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,560,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the December 31st total of 6,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,860,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 4.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total value of $28,550.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,754,625.90. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,703,061.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,980,109 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $423,265,000 after acquiring an additional 506,491 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,201,276 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $221,541,000 after acquiring an additional 125,827 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,740,873 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $147,529,000 after acquiring an additional 46,436 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,412,869 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $76,224,000 after purchasing an additional 359,566 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $70,185,000. 88.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KNX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James increased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.38.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

NYSE KNX traded down $1.09 on Friday, hitting $54.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,948,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,203,425. The company has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.26 and a beta of 0.99. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 52-week low of $45.55 and a 52-week high of $61.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $55.22 and a 200-day moving average of $53.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation's dividend payout ratio is currently 87.67%.

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.