Natixis Grows Stock Holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Natixis raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Free Report) by 4,230.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,272 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,081 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MML Investors Services LLC increased 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 during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $378,000. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,185,000. American Trust purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 3rd quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 21.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,238 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,242,000 after acquiring an additional 115,447 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KNX shares. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lowered Knight-Swift Transportation from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.19.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE KNX opened at $40.36 on Friday. 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 Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.69 and a 1 year high of $61.51. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $44.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.40. The firm has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.29 and a beta of 1.16.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.43% and a net margin of 1.59%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Knight-Swift Transportation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.63%.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other news, Director Douglas L. Col purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $226,850. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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