Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Rating Increased to Positive at Susquehanna

Susquehanna upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a positive rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Susquehanna currently has $67.00 price objective on the transportation company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $48.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $56.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.19.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Up 3.4 %

NYSE:KNX traded up $1.79 on Friday, reaching $54.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,778,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,465,023. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12-month low of $45.55 and a 12-month high of $60.99. The stock has a market cap of $8.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 237.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $55.45 and a 200 day moving average of $52.81.

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

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation's payout ratio is 278.26%.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was 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. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KNX. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,633 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.6% during the second quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 12,770 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 28.6% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 900 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 4.6% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 5,182 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.